The Way They Seem
by MidniteTheDSiXL
Summary: Behind her, Finn sighed. "Things aren't always the way they seem to be, Miss Shiftwell…" If you like dark stories of good characters turned evil, a shocking plot twist, some humor, and most of Pixar's Cars 1 and 2 characters, then this may be the dark adventurous tale for you. More descriptive summary inside.
1. Prologue

_**Summary:**_

Something is seriously wrong with Finn, and Holley is the only one who can see it. Finally, the day she dreaded arrives, and now she is left confused, lonely, and heartbroken. She has her friends, but are _they_ truly the way they seem to be as well? Crazy hardships, mysterious characters, tragic hellos and goodbyes, an old failed science plot, and not a sliver of it makes sense. As time goes on, Holley does her best to find out what is wrong with her partner. It all piles on everyone as they get closer to the truth, but all the pieces they've gathered to the puzzle go flying out the window when the most shocking news of Holley's life tells the truth to her face...

 ** _First story I ever published here; tell me what you think if you want to!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own  Cars or any of its characters. OCs belong to me._**

 ** _Cars and all its characters belong to Pixar Animation Studios._**

 ** _Cover was done by and belongs to me._**

* * *

 _ **The Way They Seem**_

 _ **Prologue**_

 _The hallway was empty; a gaping white mouth with several doors aligning the sides. The lights above flickered ever so slowly, that one would not notice unless they were paying attention. A yellow 'Wet Floor' sign reflected its image upon the glossy tile, marking the scene of a bloody outburst. The smell of cleaning chemicals was strong around it. A beautiful purple sports car rolled slowly down the hall, trying to keep calm. She was here for one reason and one reason only: To find out the truth. Or, at least, as much as she could. There was no telling who he saw her as now. Friend or foe, it didn't matter. And she didn't know. She hadn't seen him since he disappeared three years ago, and only a month ago did they find out he was caught. They were shocked when they were told he was put in the one and only High-Security Insane Asylum for the Mentally Corrupted. Had he really gotten that bad?_

 _It was a lonely three years before she was notified and sent here to see him. Sometimes during then, she missed him. Okay, even she couldn't lie to herself. She missed him ALL the time. She was quite close to him, so his betrayal really shocked her. It shocked everyone. And now, three years later, she was going to see him again. But it wasn't going to be a happy reunion. Would he remember her, or was his mind so filled with insanity, that he forgot who she was? What if he was so far gone, that he wouldn't listen to her and just try to kill her on the spot, even though he'd be restrained? What if he tried to sweet talk her into joining him? So many what ifs… The car closed her eyes and breathed heavily. One thing he himself taught her was how to remain calm, even in impossible situations. It seemed so wrong, so backwards to use his own advice because of him and against him. Outside, she kept her calm. But inside, she was absolutely terrified to see him again._

 _What seemed like an eternity later, she got to the end. A large white 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe LT with a black bug deflector and black window guards was waiting for her. The initials H.S.I.A.M.C. were inscribed in black on his doors and hood. He knew she was on her way, so he prepared to let her through when she got to him. The two exchanged words, their voices very different: one feminine, scared and quiet, yet masked with false confidence, and the other masculine and authoritative, but unsure of what would happen behind that door. He let her through once she confirmed who she was, and locked the door once she went in. He didn't want to lock it, as only the world's most insane and deadly cars went in there, but he had to. Safety regulations require it. All he hoped for,_ _was for her to return safely. After all, she was going to see THE world's single-most deadly car, that is._

 _As soon as that door closed, it shut out the normal world. She would have given anything to go back to the white hallway. Now it was as if she had been placed inside the minds of every insane car in existence. No, scratch that. Every insane car in existence and who has existed since the beginning of time. The intense feeling of mixed emotions, centuries worth of anxiety, depression, anger, suicidal urges, and hatred for oneself and others all bombarded her so harshly, she wondered if she had physical dents. The sleek purple car shook her hood and let out a small noise of being afraid, then ran into the wall. She began to get a hoodache from the sudden rush of thousands of mentally unstable cars and their voices, screaming at her, telling her things. But as soon as she ran into the wall, they all stopped. Her hood felt normal, and she looked normal, but most importantly of all, her thoughts were normal again. The voices in her head were gone as well. She could only guess the presence of all the violent cars made this place feel the way it felt. And their unstable minds were so unstable, that they actually emanated their feelings so others could feel the same._

 _Shakily, she started forward. The lighting was dim, but the haunting feeling of abandonment and insanity was intense. She kept her thoughts clear, not letting her mind slip away from her, as his mind had so easily done with him. The low light revealed a wide, fairly short hallway with far spaced, ten-inch-thick soundproof steel doors. Each one had an insane car behind it. Not just regular mental hospital insane. Beyond insane. They weren't just mentally unstable; they were possessed with madness. Once a car has ended up here, there was no saving them now. And she could tell. Even though the doors were soundproof, she could still hear the victims on the other side. Screaming, cursing, ramming into the wall or door, trying to talk to someone, or pleading for help. In a way, she felt bad for them. Some weren't here on their own terms. Those cars were here because they were forced to lose their mind. She shook her hood again and sped up, trying to escape the feeling of slight madness. She was afraid of staying too long when she finally came to his holding cell. A large sign hung above the door, marked number 314. Another sign hung on the door itself, with several warnings:_

 ** _Patient is extremely unstable._**

 ** _Do not enter unless permitted to do so by the president of H.S.I.A.M.C._**

 ** _Do NOT get within 10 feet of the bars separating you from the patient._**

 ** _All allowed visits must be no longer than 10 minutes._**

 ** _If patient becomes too violent and/or lashes out, they must be restrained by the guard._**

 ** _Unless patient mentions them first, talking about those closest to them is not recommended._**

 ** _DO NOT TOUCH PATIENT_**

 _The spy kept her eyes on the second to last rule and felt her oil run cold. She didn't need to ask to know she was one of the 'those closest' to him. Now she was even more nervous about going in._

 _The guard in front of the door watched her with concerned grey eyes. He knew it must have been terrifying to go in alone. But the white 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee let her in._

 _Verifying who she was to the guard first, (and wondering how he hadn't lost his mind yet, spending time down here must have some sort of consequence) she went in._

 _The room was dark, save for an almost spotlight-like circle in the center, coming from the ceiling. She could see the light reflecting off something within the darkness, and realized they were bars_ _. Good, he wouldn't be able to hurt her. Taking a nervous breath, she forced a single word from her lips._

 _"Hello?" She waited. The seconds went by like years in the silence. Then suddenly it came from the black void before her, and her breath hitched._

 _"Hello…"_

 _It was definitely his voice. Something she hadn't heard in forever. But she knew who it belonged to. She would recognize that smooth, accented tone anywhere. But something was different about it this time. His voice was still the same, accent and smooth, but now it had a dark, sinister twist to it. It was almost a beckoning call itself, as if listening to it would have one under his spell, and just by saying 'hello' he could have an entire army at his tires. But it was just a simple greeting, and nothing else._

 _"D-do you recognize me?" she stammered, not caring that she broke the second to last rule just by being here._

 _"I can't see you, my dear. You are in the dark, yet your voice rings a bell…" he responded. She was shocked he wasn't trying to tear down the bars and kill her. Yes, he was that kind of insane. Unless… He could control himself…_

 _"Why are you here? What happened to you?" she suddenly demanded. "I want the truth. You disappeared and betrayed us all. What happened three years ago?" There was a long pause, and the car rolled up to the bars, letting himself be seen by the light's glow against the white tile._

 _"I left. I decided I didn't want to be with you all anymore. I discovered a new path in life." He glared at her. "If you were smart, you'd join us."_

 _"Smart? How is being evil smart?"_

 _"Oh, it is, sweetheart. Siding with them is one of the best things I have ever done. Their purpose, in my opinion, is much better than the one of whom you work for, honey." Even though she felt different about him now, she couldn't help but admire how he still spoke correctly. But she didn't admire the fact that now he was evil he had taken up using pet names. "Not only is it better to me,_ _but it's also more fun. You don't have to follow rules. You can do what you want, especially with violence. I've had my share of violence on the good side. Now, it's time to turn the tables. It's not a terrible change, trust me. Killing innocent lives is a pastime thing. I've even killed some old fellow spies." He paused, waiting for a reaction. She gasped, genuinely shocked it was him; he was the reason three spies were missing. "Stealing important items is simple and fun. Every mission I've been on is far more enjoyable than the ones I went on when I was good. Heh, it's ALL enjoyable. You just have to become like me. It is quite exhilarating." The older car was as close as he could get to the bars. The younger car drove forward to get a better look at him, breaking the 10 feet between them. He didn't budge or try attacking. For a few moments, the two let their eyes wander over each other, remembering. For him, it was remembering the past. For her, it was remembering what he used to look like. The silver car looked like an abused classic now. There were gashes in his metal body, red oil smeared here and there, a headlight was broken, his paint was chipped and scraped, more car-blood was on his wheels, a line that resembled a scar was on his left eyelids, and…his eyes. His pretty, once aqua green eyes were tinted red. The natural green clashed with the unnatural red, and that's when the purple car realized._

 _"You've been brainwashed…"_

 _"Just now figured that out? Congratulations." He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, then narrowed them at her. "You were always a disappointment. Now I see you're still not better, and now slow at figuring things out. I haven't seen you in three years, and I expected better of you. In fact, I almost expected you to come find me not long after I went missing. I thought I taught you better. Guess not." His words stung, but she knew not to let it get to her._

 _"I know that's not actually you talking." she declared. "It's your opposite, evil, brainwashed self." What he said next was completely unexpected, and exactly what she didn't want to hear._

 _"Are you sure? What makes you so confident I didn't ALLOW myself to be changed?" His words hung in the air, and he smirked at her, letting that sink in. She stared, completely shocked, and turned away, not wanting him to see the tears fall. Could it be true? Did he let himself be brainwashed? Come to think of it, his behavior was a little off in the three months leading up to his disappearance. She didn't want to believe it, but what was there to say? What was there to do if he wanted to become bad? "I know you are confused. Come here, my dear. Touch me and see." The purple car wiped away the tears beading in her windshield._

 _"I'm not supposed to touch you. Last rule in capital letters on the door." she reminded, turning back to face him._

 _"You've broken two already. Nobody is going to know or care. Might as well." He held his tire up to the bars, pressing it through them as far as it would go. She looked cautiously at it, then into his eyes. "I know you want to know_. _" he said as if he read her mind. She wanted to, but could she trust him? Slowly, she rolled forward. As soon as her tire touched his, it was as if the world stopped. Images flashed before her eyes, old memories of forgotten times that once were. She saw many deaths and many traumatizing moments. She even saw herself more than once, of both good and bad times. She saw other scenes, images of things that never happened, but were instead imagined with a wish to be real. Those scared her the most. Thoughts filled her head, thoughts of killing, torture, evil, hatred, and snapping. Voices rang in her ears, telling her to turn away from everything she cared about, to become one of them. Evil excitement flooded her, and she almost collapsed under the pressure of anxiety. She wanted it all to stop, but she couldn't put her tire down. It was like a force was preventing her from it. Finally, he pulled away, and she sank low on her axles, breathing hard. Nothing that ran through her head made sense, and she wondered how by just a simple touch, he shared his feelings and why he went insane. But she was too afraid to ask. C.H.R.O.M.E. would not be pleased to hear about what she had seen. Especially since two words kept running over and over in her mind. She shakily got up and turned from him, hiding her now falling tears. Two words she did not want to hear repeated once more, along with a third, and she never heard them again. Join them. Join **him**._

 _"I used to look up to you, Finn. You were so good at everything you did. I wanted to be as good a field agent as you. I was excited when I learned you agreed to train me to be one." It took everything in her power not to let her voice shake as a few tears ran down her hood. They were tears of confused sadness, liquid diamonds of denial. "I had no idea that's how you felt the whole time. You never seemed to be that way…" Behind her, Finn sighed._

 _"Things aren't always the way they seem to be, Miss Shiftwell…"_

* * *

 ** _I have been to this website many times in the past, and now this is my first fanfiction here. This dark prologue is the only chapter that is completely italicized, all others are normal._**

 ** _Almost every Cars character will show up in this story with at least two speaking lines. It'll be hard fitting them all in, but I've been writing stories for a long time now, and would like a challenge! Many of the OCs are vehicles I know or knew in real life. There won't be an insane amount of OCs, though._**

 ** _Reviews are greatly appreciated!_**


	2. One

**_Thank you for the reviews, I really appreciate them!_**

 ** _This story is going to be dark, so if you got this far, that must mean you enjoy stories with a dark tone and upsetting scenes. This is the first dark story I have written/am writing, and the first one I've posted here. I hope anyone who reads it will enjoy! It will contain some humor, just to even out the darkness._**

* * *

 _ **One**_

"Acer!" the orange Gremlin yelled for the third time. "Where is that bumbling idiot?" he sleepily mumbled to himself. The ancient building echoed Grem's voice, bouncing it off the metal walls back to him. He squeezed his eyes shut as his own voice rang in his ears very loudly, and he felt like it was going only to him, as Acer was nowhere to be seen or heard. He yawned again, the fourth time in two minutes, and stumbled forward a little while blinking his eyes rapidly. This search was getting nowhere, and both cars had the dark lower eyelids to prove it. The Gremlin and Pacer had been sent to an old warehouse by Professor Zündapp to search for something. They had been searching for 72 hours, day and night for this mysterious little thing with no luck. And all Acer did most of the time was complain about how they couldn't find it and that they were in the middle of nowhere. Not that he was wrong; they certainly weren't finding the thing and this warehouse-facility was in the middle of the sea, but his partner was never going to admit that. After they had arrived, Grem had begun to wonder why he was reluctant to work with Acer when they were first paired up for this job. But after the 128th 'we're never gonna find it' the first day, he remembered why.

"Acer!" he yelled again. "Where are you!?" Finally, he got an answer.

"I'm up here!" Acer's tired voice came from somewhere far above. "Keep your voice down a little! This building's so old, it's gonna come down from the force of your loudness!" Grem rolled his green eyes.

"Like you're not yelling, too…" he thought. "You've been up there forever! Hurry up so we can go! We'll tell the professor we couldn't find it anywhere and hope he won't be too mad."

"I'm too tired to care if he'll be mad or not." Acer grumbled. "When we get back, I think gonna sleep for a week."

"Well, I'm gonna write down how I didn't go crazy spending three sleepless days and nights with you." Grem's tires splayed out at the word 'sleepless', and he sighed heavily as his own weight was taken off his wheels. "I mean seriously. How did I not lose my mind with you sounding like a broken record about not finding it?" He jolted awake, but not fully, at the sudden coldness of the concrete when his warm undercarriage touched it.

"I heard that!" Acer called from above, though his tired voice sounded like he didn't really care. Like Grem, Acer had also laid down and closed his eyes for a second. Sleep sounded like heaven, and the yellow-green Pacer almost slipped into darkness. But he forcefully pulled himself from the temptation. He opened his brown eyes and looked around at boxes in the darkness. Acer looked at about five different things sticking out of them before he saw it.

Down below, Grem was on the brink of sleep. His vision had gone blurry, his engine was shut off, he was low on gas, and he was so tired. He and Acer were only supposed to be at this abandoned warehouse facility for two days, which is why they stayed a third. They didn't want to go back with empty tires without staying an extra day to make it look like they were really looking. Not that they weren't, they just didn't want Professor Z to think they were goofing off. "Staying three days without sleeping was a bad idea…" Grem thought. Just as his eyes closed, an extremely loud CLASH KA-CLANG CRASH! sounded above and he nearly leaked oil between his back tires. "What the-!?" he started as he shot up, now more awake than he had been when they first arrived. "Dodge Rammit, Acer! What on Chrysler's green Earth did you do!?" At first, there was silence. Then Acer's smug laugh of pure confidence softly drifted down to Grem, making the orange Lemon wonder. "What did you find?"

"Oh, nothing important. Only exactly what we were looking for, but you know." Acer came down the ramp that led to where he was, and finally reached Grem "No big deal." he said as he revealed what was tucked in his wheel well. Grem's eyes widened, and both of them grinned. "How about we go casually surprise the professor?" Acer offered. Grem smirked evilly, his missing tooth just adding to the effect.

"Why, I think that's a wonderful idea, my friend."

They arrived in Germany before the day ended. Professor Zündapp was waiting for them in his underground facility.

"We got what you asked for, Professor." Grem said when they saw their second leader.

"Is that why it took you three days?" said Zündapp in a breathless tone. "I was beginning to wonder if you two were fooling around." The German car turned slowly, training his grey eyes on the two Lemons. "It should have taken only two."

"But it took three to find this." Acer held out his tire, proudly showing what he held. He dropped it in front of Zündapp and backed up a little. The professor rolled forward a couple of inches and gazed at the object in front of him. His eyes widened slightly - he had no idea Grem and Acer would actually find it! This was incredible! Maybe finally, FINALLY after so long, cars who are considered "Lemons" will rise! Zündapp was so elated, that the other two noticed.

"Uh, are you okay, Professor Z?" queried Grem.

"You're a little shaky…" Acer pointed out. The two jumped slightly when Zündapp snapped his attention up to them, a wild look in his already crazy eyes.

"You two actually found it?! I didn't think either of you would. I expected you to come back empty-tired, but this… THIS is WUNDERBAR!" he said, very happily. The Gremlin and Pacer exchanged a glance, not used to seeing their second boss like this. "Do you know what this means? We now have an absolute chance at rising above others! Cars won't look down upon Lemons anymore! Ah ha ha ha ha!"

"That kinda failed last time, remember? And Grem and I got, well, outnumbered at a bar and beat up because of that!" Acer recalled, not wanting to admit pure defeat after the melee in London. "Besides, it took us way too long to bust outta jail and get you out too."

"I don't mean to doubt, but what if his plan fails like Axlerod's? I mean, I know we agreed to never speak of that plan again, but it failed horribly." Grem reminded. "We almost pulled it off, too."

"Bite your tongue, Grem, and don't doubt." the professor warned. "And true, we didn't pull that first plan off. Only because Lightning McQueen didn't actually use Allinol for that last race. If we had known, we could have tried killing him differently. But that was four years ago and in the past." Zündapp inched closer. "That plan was then. This plan is now." He slid a book he was hiding under him forward. Grem and Acer looked at it with interest. The cover was old and tattered, with stains dotted here and there. Several pages looked like they had been ripped out, and the gold lettering on the front was faded and barely readable:

Control

The two Lemons gasped and looked at their boss. So THAT'S what was stolen three years ago…

There was no way Mystery's plan could fail.

* * *

 ** _Wonder what that book could be..._**

 ** _Sorry for short chapter; every chapter after this is at least 4,000+ words!_**


	3. Two

**_Cars Crazy Fudge, Blue, and FeatherSunfire: Thank you so much for your reviews! Now I know some people like this story, so that will inspire me to write more._**

 ** _FeatherSunfire, to answer your question, yes. All Cars characters will be in this story in some way or another, and that includes Chick and Strip! It's gonna be hard, but I like a challenge. I want to please all Cars fans by putting in their favorite characters, even though what happens to some cars is not that pleasing... Even some of my own favorites will suffer, but that's from me trying something new. I couldn't tell if they were joking, but someone told me my story is probably cancerous, so thank you for the favorite and follow; if I could hug you through my computer, I would!_**

 _ **I should also say there is a part in here that can only be 100% understood by anyone who has played Cars 2: The Videogame, but I tried to explain it as best I could. (in my opinion, best racing video game, by the way XD)**_

* * *

 _ **Two**_

 _ **Four Years Earlier...**_

"Good, very good Miss Shiftwell! You're doing excellent!" Finn's British voice praised over Holley's inner communication device. The purple car smiled to herself and got ready for the next simulation.

It had been two weeks since the World Grand Prix, and one since the race in Radiator Springs. News had gotten around that Miles Axlerod, Professor Zündapp, Grem, Acer, and most of the Lemons were charged and all sent to prison. Grem and Zündapp were sentenced to life because it was specifically them who murdered Rod Redline, that being discovered by the Americans. Some Lemons had gotten away, but without the majority of their clan and their leader, they couldn't do anything world-domination related. Those went into hiding, and without anyone trying to sabotage anything, spies weren't needed. Holley took this time to become a field agent. She had decided that working alongside a field agent and joining in on the fighting was fun. It sure beat working in the technical area, and she was getting pretty good at it. Finn agreed to train her and take her as his partner on any spy missions. Holley was excited and determined to do well. Since the Allinol scam that started it all for her, she had gone on two minor spy missions that didn't involve much. She couldn't wait for a mission that involved more action, but until then, training in simulations would have to do. Today was just another training day.

"Now in this simulation, you are going to have to use your best aiming skills to take down these stealthy targets. Enemies who are expecting you are never going to be out in the open." instructed Finn. "Begin." He pressed a button and watched his new at "field agent-ing" partner.

The room around Holley changed into something familiar. It was Porto Corsa, Italy, the same place the second part of the World Grand Prix took place in. She was in front of the Casino di Porto Corsa, the same place where she had led Ivan the tow truck away and shocked him.

 _"Haha, memories…"_ she thought with a smirk. Holley was completely alone; the simulation hadn't created civilians idling here and there. "Where is everyone?" she whispered to herself. Suddenly, she realized. Or more like discovered. A warning gunshot rang out, almost hitting the beautiful spy. Holley jumped to the side and quickly drove to the side of a building. _"Just me and the baddies, no civilians… Come on, Finn… Give me more of a challenge…"_ she thought, again with a smirk. An assault rifle emerged from her left side, and she inched out. A simulated opponent was waiting by a fountain about fifty yards away. Holley was just about to aim and fire, but as soon as she saw what kind of vehicle it was, she faltered. It was a large dark white 2003 Cadillac Escalade. Bigger vehicles meant harder simulations because they were more powerful and harder to take down from their bulky size. The purple spy car wasn't the greatest at the harder simulations, but that was probably why Finn put her in this one. Practice makes perfect, he had said, and Holley hoped he was right. She took a breath, willed herself to do this right, and aimed. She shot him in the rear right fender and watched him jump in pain as a bullet embedded itself in his hip. A gun popped out of his right front tire and he angrily turned towards Holley. She reversed and listened. He was coming towards her slowly. She peeked around the corner, gun ready, and failed to see him. _"Where did he go?"_ she thought. Backing up again, she found him. Holley jumped and turned around when her bumper touched him. He looked rather angry.

"Hello…" Holley said nervously.

"Hello." the white Cadillac growled. He raised his tire and pointed his gun right at her windshield. "Now goodbye."

Holley wished these simulations weren't advanced enough to have mocking, confident voices. She quickly jumped on the wall and off it again to get behind the Cadillac, a trick Finn had taught her personally. The vehicle began turning around, but Holley used her taser to shock him. Bigger vehicles are easy targets to hit, but a little harder to take down with just a taser. As soon as his undercarriage was touching the ground, Holley reversed immediately and shot a missile at him, killing the simulated car instantly. He disappeared into blue outlines, and the purple spy shot out from where she was, driving down an alley. She heard voices, close and talking loudly. _"They must have heard the missile blow up…"_ thought Holley. Very quietly, she made her way down the narrow alley and spotted another simulated car. This one was a mean looking Hummer, and right next to him was an even meaner looking female Humvee.

"Oh no… Military-grade vehicles…" Holley inaudibly whispered to herself. Last time she went against a Hummer was the only time she went against a Hummer, and he came out as the victor. If Hummers were considered "wannabe Humvees" and Holley still lost to a simulation, she didn't even want to think about how powerful a real Humvee is.

She didn't move, deciding what would be best to do. Holley only looked down for a couple of seconds, but when she looked up again, the two were gone. Her eyes widened, and she immediately checked her mirrors to see behind her. A small wash of relief went over her that they weren't there, but instant alarm replaced that. Where did they go? The spy looked around and listened carefully. An idea popped in her hood, and she quietly shot a couple of grappling hooks up on the top edge of the building she was behind. She pulled herself up on the cables and made it to the top. Now she had a better view of what was below her and she scanned the area. Holley spotted the back end of the Hummer and decided to take him out fast.

Once the missile blew up, she knew that Humvee was going to get her. Sure enough, simulated bullets peppered Holley's right side, causing her to lose focus for a second. But she saw the large vehicle, coming at her across the rooftops.

"You'll pay for that!" the simulated Humvee boomed. The computer had given her a very raspy voice, fitting for her tough appearance and blood red and black paint job. Holley shot at her, hitting her with several bullets. Unsurprisingly, none of them really fazed her. They only slowed her down, and Holley wondered what level of pain simulated cars feel since they're only A.I.s. The Humvee came closer, too close, and the spy decided to use a tactic Finn told her would be useful in certain situations. She turned and jumped rooftops, running. "Hey, get back here!" the raspy voice called out.

"You'll have to catch me first!~" Holley yelled tauntingly. The Humvee began shooting again, just missing her agile target.

"Catch you? Put up a challenge, girly! Don't make it easy for me! Vee likes a challenge!" she shouted. Holley rolled her eyes, thinking she could get away from "Vee", as Humvees weren't exactly agile like her. But, agility wasn't the only case in this simulation. As the spy was turning to jet across one more roof, then jump to the ground, a small missile shot her in the right rear fender. She yelped, and her back end was pushed to the left from the force. She fell right off the building's roof and landed on her own roof.

 _"I thought this was too easy…"_ she thought. _"Here's the difficulty…"_ Frantically, she rocked, then scrambled to her tires and looked up. Vee was right above her, aiming a fairly large AR-15 at her. Holley bolted forward, glad to have such excellent traction on her tires as she narrowly missed getting shot and experiencing another simulation death. In all her training, she only had two deaths, and getting killed in a simulation was the weirdest feeling ever. Hard to describe, it wasn't the most fun experience, especially when one least expects it. Holley heard a thunk and a grunt of pain behind her as Vee jumped off the roof. The spy drifted around a corner and watched her rearview mirror in shock as the Humvee drifted just as gracefully. Vee raised up a little and deployed a Skate Jack. As soon as that fast-propelling jack on a skateboard got within ten feet of Holley, she jump-turned around and shot it, exploding it instantly. Keeping one eye on her mirrors and the other on Vee, she watched the black and red military vehicle drive through the black smoke with a stern look on her face. She shot at Holley, and the sleek car swerved to the side, very unsteady. Between training days, Mater would teach her how to drive backwards using live-streaming. Holley was getting good at it and was teaching herself how to incorporate it into her training missions. She wasn't superb yet, and her left hip clipped the wall causing her to spin a tiny bit. Well, that 'tiny bit' was enough to throw her off and let Vee catch up. Vee sped up and crashed her front into Holley's right fender, sending the spy skidding backwards a great distance. She clenched her teeth, as these simulations were fake but the pain was real, and came to a stop. There were four black skid marks leading right to her, and she barely had time to look up from them to see Vee. She had a particularly large rocket on her side and was going to launch it. Holley closed her eyes and braced herself, but a giant, painless explosion rang out in front of her. Then, it was silent. Holley was almost certain she got a third death added to her count, but why didn't it hurt? _"Maybe the pain was too great that the computer couldn't simulate it…"_ she wondered.

"That was unexpected, but brilliant!" said a happy British voice.

Wait, she didn't die?

"You really had me thinking you were going to die!" the voice projected again. Holley opened her eyes just in time to see the Italian scenery disappear back into C.H.R.O.M.E.'s training simulation room. But right before it did, she caught a glimpse of Vee's blown up body seven feet in front of her. All Holley's dents and scrapes disappeared, except the dent she got during the Allinol scam, and she found herself standing in the middle of the empty simulation room. Still confused as to what happened, she turned to look at Finn. He was coming from the doorway that led to the simulation control room and he looked very proud. "You're getting better every day you do this, Miss Shiftwell. You certainly surprised me. Letting Vee get the upper tire, allowing yourself to be damaged a little and cornered, then blowing her up at the last second with a missile. Brilliant!" Finn praised. "How did you think to do that?"

"Um, well I, I just thought to use your tactic of running, uh, with a twist." Holley answered. "Wait, you can charge these missiles? I mean, I knew that! I guess I really am surprising, aren't I?"

"You're telling me. I would have only run and shot back while being stealthy. I would have never thought to play the victim, let my opponent think they've got me, then bam! Get them when they least expect it." Finn turned and led Holley out of the combat simulation room and back into the control room. "That's the first I've ever seen a newbie fight like an expert like that." he said.

"You really think I did an excellent job?" Holley asked excitedly.

"Yes. In fact, I don't think. I know you did an excellent job." assured Finn. Holley blushed slightly. If there was one thing she liked doing, it was making him proud. She really looked up to the older silver Faultless and wanted to be as great as him. He'd been a field agent for a fairly long time, and he was one of C.H.R.O.M.E.'s best. Holley was determined to be C.H.R.O.M.E.'s other best and being taught by the greatest was surely paying off. Although she didn't intend to get hit and slightly beat up by Vee, and that missile was only charged and shot by accident, she was never going to tell Finn that. But now she knew how to impress him even more.

 _"I wish Mater could have seen that…"_ Holley thought when she was thinking of ways to impress Finn. Her boyfriend would be beyond proud to know his girl used backwards driving to help take down a Humvee (even though everything after going backwards was purely accidental). Holley stifled a small laugh at that, but her face broke into a huge smile when the doors to the control room opened, revealing Mater, Lightning McQueen, Sally, and surprisingly enough, Jeff Gorvette.

"Wowee, Holley! That was COOL! The way you drived backwards an' blew up that dang Humvee a few seconds later was smart! Dadgum, I have me an in-tell-lee-gent girlfriend!" Mater praised, drawing out the word 'intelligent' in his usual hillbilly way of speaking. Holley giggled at him.

"Well, I am training to be among the best. You have to think quickly about your situation, and what would be the best action to take. I don't mean to be a braggart, but I'm getting good at that." she explained, a large smile plastered on her face. She rolled over to Sally, away from everyone.

"You had no idea what you were doing, and everything you did was not on purpose." The Porsche gave a knowing smirk, eyeing her friend.

"You have no idea." Holley admitted, still smiling like she was programmed. "How could you tell?"

"I have my ways. The closer the friend, the more I can see right through their acts." Sally said. The two turned their attention to the males.

"Okay Holley, I have recorded the results of these training sessions, and I can see you have progressed a lot." Finn discovered. "You should be done with your training very soon and become an official field agent."

"Finally! Soon I can go on missions without someone having to watch me." Holley announced happily. She turned to Mater, Lightning, Sally, and Jeff. "So, what brings you four here?"

"Well, I was visiting my friends in Radiator Springs for a bit. Last week was the race, and I couldn't stay for long after it." Jeff told her.

"Then Mater wanted to come visit you two, and he wanted me to come with him. Sally and Jeff just tagged along." Lightning explained further. He rolled over to the control panel. "Hey, these simulations look kind of fun. Do you think we could try them out, Finn?"

"Have civilians try out our equipment? I don't think it would hurt anything." Finn answered. "In fact, I think it would be quite enjoyable to just play around with these simulations. What do you say, Holley? Would you like to take a break from training and have some fun?"

"You mean these simulations are for more than just sharpening skills?" Holley asked, stunned. "Of course! I would love to! What can we do first?"

"Well considering we have two racecars here, why don't we have ourselves a race?" Finn went over to the controls and pressed a couple of buttons, scrolled around on the screen, clicked something on it, and pressed another button. The simulator room changed into the scenery called _Hyde Tour_ , and the four civilians gasped when they all went in.

"Whoa! It's one thing to watch someone do a simulation, but something else entirely to be _in_ one!" Jeff gasped. He drove around a little, checking everything out. It really looked, felt, and even smelled like they were back on the same streets of London the WGP took place on. "How much did this facility cost to build? Like, how much were these simulations alone?" he wondered.

"Too much. I can't remember an exact amount, but we're still paying for it as keeping this place operating is quite costly." Finn answered. "And when the circuit breakers get run over, they have to be replaced. Those are extremely expensive." Just then, a loud engine revved, pulling everyone from their thoughts.

"Are we just gonna stand here and talk about how expensive this place is, or use it?" Lightning asked, eager to race in a simulation.

"I'm with Lightnin' on that!" Mater agreed, trying to rev his engine just like his best friend. "Racin' in a virtual reality! Boy, this oughta be fu-un!" Holley pulled up next to him.

"Then let's be off, shall we?" she said with a smile. The six cars pulled up to the starting line in the simulated city. "How many laps?" she asked.

"I put five on this one, but we can do more in another." responded Finn. He then explained what they needed to know before they took off. Such as when the simulators are used for racing, it can be with or without weapons. These races would be done without weapons, but regardless of what the settings were on for the racing simulations, they all had something called 'Turbo.' It is exactly as it sounds: Something to make them go faster, but only if they had enough of it. To obtain it, they would have to drive backwards, drift, perform tricks such as flipping in midair or driving on two wheels, or collecting it with floating canisters labeled 'Allinol'. No, no, it wasn't _actually_ Allinol. It was only the icon that had been recently programmed into the simulator to represent canisters of Turbo. Once Finn had assured them on that, he explained that when they got their Turbo charged up all the way, they could activate something and go into the 'Zone'. That was a little bubble of protection around the user that sped them up and kept them safe from getting blown up by anything. However, it was a limited thing that didn't last long, and if it got hit, it would disappear. But they could ram into other racers and knock them out of the way, and their Zone bubble would not disappear. The final thing was that they all had Turbo to begin with, and they could charge it up during the countdown to get a major speed boost. Once everyone was clear on that, they were all good to go and Finn started the race. "Now then," he began and the three, two, one countdown started, and they all revved their engines to charge their Turbo. "let's race!"

And so they raced. They did all the simulated courses multiple times, and had a gleeful, carefree time doing them. They all won at least once, (with Lightning and Jeff getting the most wins of course) and completely lost track of time. They didn't realize they had been racing the rest of that day, and all that night until _much_ later.

"That was so much fun." Jeff said after the last race. "But I'm getting tired. I don't think I can do another race."

"Why no wonder; it's tomorrow!" Sally exclaimed. They all looked at her. "As in, it's 6:23 in the morning."

"What?" Finn brought up his clock on his mirror. "Goodness we've been here since yesterday! I guess that proves these simulations can go on for an extended amount of time without messing up." Suddenly, the _Vista Run_ Tokyo racetrack around them disappeared, and they found themselves back in reality.

"I was wondering why these simulations were running." said a voice. "Just you two…and four newcomers! Hello!" Over in the entrance, was a female silver 2012 Chevrolet Malibu LT with stunning violet eyes.

"Ah, Agent Silver Blaze! I haven't seen you in a couple of months." Finn greeted.

"Well, I try to make myself scarce." Silver joked. She rolled in, scanning her eyes over the newcomers, looking at Lightning and Jeff the longest. "Are they the famous racers Lightning McQueen and Jeff Gorvette?"

"Yes ma'am, we are." Lightning nodded. Silver looked over to Mater.

"And you must be Sir Tow Mater?"

"Yup. But you can just call me 'Mater', none of that formal 'sir' business." the tow truck said with a smile. Silver laughed a little.

"Okay, 'Mater' it is then." She looked at Sally. "If that's Lightning over there, then you have to be his girlfriend Sally Carrera."

"Wow, yes I am." Sally said, taken aback. "How did you know all of us?"

"Well, isn't it hard to _not_ be known when you're famous?" Sally still looked a little surprised. "I mean, Jeff and Lightning are racers, Mater solved the Allinol scam and saved his best friend, so that makes those three famous. And for you, well it's what you get for dating a famous racecar." Silver said, winking.

"I knew I was known a little, but I wouldn't call myself famous." the Porsche admitted. Lightning rolled up next to her.

"Wow, you didn't know that, huh?" he asked, smirking.

"What? I'm just saying I would never consider myself as famous as you." she said with honesty. Lightning chuckled a bit.

"You're so silly sometimes. But that's why I love you." As if to prove it, the racecar planted a kiss on Sally's fender. Sally blushed and turned so no one could see her red-tinted hood. No one did as at that moment, all the cars began leaving and shutting down the simulation room.

"So, Silver, tell me about where you were all that time. On a mission?" Finn asked the Malibu.

"Yes, actually. I was supposed to go with a spy by the name of Agent Rod Redline, but I had to stay behind for an unimportant mission. I suppose you've heard of him? Rod "Torque" Redline?" Silver looked at Finn, but the older spy shook his hood. "You were supposed to meet him at the party in Tokyo, for the information. He is…was a blue muscle car." Silver's voice faltered a little, but Mater perked up a bit.

"An American blue muscle car? At the party in Tokyo? I seen one in the bathroom, along with a Gremlin and a Pacer. The blue car looked all beat up, and those two Lemons didn't seem very friendly. I asked him if he was okay, and he told me he was fine." he recalled. Silver looked at Mater with a faraway sad look in her purple eyes.

"You were the last non-evil car to see Rod alive." she finally said.

"Ya mean he died?"

"He was murdered later. When he didn't return, I, along with a few others, went to look for him. That's when we found out he was killed and his body was thrown among others who had also been killed by those monsters. I can only guess after those Lemons beat him up, they took him somewhere, tortured and interrogated him, then killed him once they got the info they needed." Silver told them.

"That would explain why all those Lemons were after Mater." Holley realized. "Rod must have secretly passed the information and tracker to him in the bathroom."

"And that's why you two thought I was the spy." concluded Mater, finally piecing the mess together. "That would also explain why I felt a sharp, cold pain in my undercarriage in the restroom. It was Rod puttin' that doohickey on me." he added. Finally, they all knew why Mater got tangled up in the spy and Allinol mess.

"Now it all makes sense." Finn uttered after a pause. "Thank you for telling us this, Silver. I'm terribly sorry to hear Rod was murdered."

"If I had gone into the bathroom, I probably could have saved him…" Holley said quietly. "I was so hesitant to go in, but if I had, I most likely would have seen them and maybe prevented Rod's death."

"If I had known, I coulda gotten help." Mater mumbled. "But I didn't…"

"What's in the past cannot be undone. While I and many others miss Agent Redline, at least we know for a fact he went down fighting. Rod would never let himself be done in by a couple of crappy, always-break-down cars without a fight." Silver started to bring up the mood. "I don't blame you, Holley, or you, Mater. I only blame those, um what were they? A Gremlin and Pacer? Yeah, I only blame those two."

"Their names are Grem and Acer if you ever want to find them and kill them." Holley revealed, smirking. "Anyone can guess which one's which just by knowing their names and models."

"Heh, heh, Grem and Acer, huh? Very creative names they have." Silver shook her hood slightly. The seven cars all filed out of C.H.R.O.M.E.'s headquarters building, blinking in the sunlight. "But if I find them, I'll fill them with Allinol and shoot them with an EMP gun at 100% power!"

"I don't doubt you would." said Lightning with a laugh. "You sure seem like the kind of sneaky spy who would do that. By the way, how long were you even in there watching us? None of us noticed."

"Long enough. I'm excellent at hiding and staying in the shadows." As soon as Silver said that, she disappeared.

"Where'd she go?" asked Jeff, looking around. Beside him, Finn was looking up at a tree.

"Up in that tree." he said, oddly sounding like he didn't want to be there. He quickly changed his tone back. "You can fool just about everyone, my dear. But you can't fool me." Silver reappeared, sitting on a large branch.

"Dang it! I was hoping you wouldn't know where I was that time." She jumped down. "Okay, I'm _almost_ excellent at hiding. But, none of you knew I was watching y'all do the simulations."

The group went on, talking and once asking Finn how he knew where Silver went even though she was invisible. Strangely, he _reluctantly_ told them enough experience in the field had taught him how to figure hard things out. And having thermal detector gear helped too. Usually he'd be thrilled to impress others, but he looked like he couldn't care less, and Holley was the only one who noticed. Eventually, after spending time with each other all day, the seven cars went their separate ways. They said their goodbyes and Mater and Holley promised each other they would visit one another as often as they could. Silver, who had been stationed in London for the Allinol scam and was now ready to go back home, went with Lightning, Mater, Sally, and Jeff, and once they were gone, Finn and Holley went to their own places of residence. He drove with her to her housing unit in C.H.R.O.M.E. like he usually does, but this time was different.

As Holley watched Finn's taillights get smaller as he drove off, she couldn't help but think about something. She wondered if it was just her or something else, but Finn was acting slightly off. As soon as they had left the headquarters, she noticed right away. His voice sounded a little different, and he acted more focused rather than laid back like he usually is when he's not on a mission or training. He was quieter, too. Usually he's more sociable when around friends, but after racing, he seemed to be in a constant angry thought. _"I bet he was just tired or having a slight mood swing or something…"_ Holley assumed in thought. She brushed it off as nothing to worry about.

But little did those seven cars know, Silver wasn't the only one watching them earlier. Someone had escaped his cell and had been following them all day…

"It's done, sir. Finn McMissile is already starting to act differently."

" _Good._ "

"How long did you say this will take?"

" _It will take a few years. Depending on how quickly he gives in depends on how fast it'll work. Have patience, Professor. It'll be under five years and you won't be in prison long._ "

"How do you know?"

" _I've observed McMissile long enough. I'm not sure what's wrong with him, but I can tell he's beginning to defect. For whatever reason, he's been showing signs of snapping. This will just speed that up._ "

"So within five years, this plan will take off and soon after, everything will be ours." There was a pause. "This plan better be better than that Allinol one."

" _Are you doubting me? That's not doubting I hear, right? You know what happens to those who doubt me…_ "

"My apologies, sir. It's just that…"

" _I know how you feel, Zündapp. Trust me on this, I am not anything like Miles. My plan will work, unlike the one he had. I have thought this through. It is perfectly mapped out._ "

"I hope you're right, Boss…"

" _I_ know _I'm right. Now, get yourself caught._ "

It wasn't long before the police discovered an inmate was missing. If it wasn't part of the plan, the professor wouldn't have let himself be caught. But at least he wouldn't have to spend an eternity in prison, for the rest of the plan would hopefully happen soon. And it actually wasn't long before the real story began…


	4. Three

_**Three**_

The next day, Holley arrived early. She was ready to start her training again and was hoping Finn would be more like himself. _"I just hope whatever was wrong yesterday is okay today…"_ Holley thought as she entered the simulation room. She crept slowly into the control room and saw Finn standing there, unmoving. She contemplated whether or not to say something.

"Finn?"

No response. Perhaps she said it too quietly?

"Hi, Finn…" she said a little louder. The silver classic turned slightly, a strange look in his eyes. He looked at Holley like he was unsure he could trust her. Suddenly, he smiled.

"Ah, good morning Agent Shiftwell! Lovely day, isn't it?" he greeted cheerily.

"Oh, yeah I guess it is." Holley looked at Finn a little strangely, and he noticed.

"I know I wasn't myself after we left the building yesterday. I saw that you were the only one to notice." he acknowledged. "I wasn't meaning to be rude, but I was having a slight hoodache that got worse after a while."

"Oh, did you? Do you think it could have been from doing those simulated races for nearly a day?"

"Maybe. I'm not really sure, but it was something in this building." Finn looked around, causing Holley to do the same.

Something in this building?

"But, I'm better today. Are you up for training again?"

"Yes, I am ready." Holley eagerly went out into the combat room, and Finn started them up.

With every simulation, Holley got better and better. And with every passing day, Finn acted stranger and stranger. It was very slow, but he was becoming different. When training for the day was over, he wouldn't really speak to Holley. He acted more distant and kept away from everyone almost all the time. There were days when Finn acted like himself, and Holley would give anything to make those days never ending; she didn't like it when he wasn't himself. Actually, she hated it when those close to her were not themselves. Especially for no reason, and she knew for a fact nothing happened that would change Finn's behavior. He wasn't aggressive, just…different. Holley thought he would eventually get better, but he never showed signs of it, or wanting to be his old self again for that matter.

 **...**

After about three months, Holley had finished her training and become a true field agent. She was excited, and that day Finn was trying to be himself.

"I am finally an official field agent! No more working in the technical field." she excitedly triumphed. Finn seemed to be proud.

"Finally? Holley, I've always thought you to be an official field agent. You've done beautifully over these past few months. From the day we met, I knew you'd end up as my partner, and I was more than happy to train you personally." he said with a smile. "Now then, how about you share the good news with your charming tow truck lover?" Finn chuckled at his own choice of words. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear you've nearly perfected backwards driving."

"I can't believe I haven't done that yet! I'll be right back."

As soon as Holley sped off to go make the call, Finn suddenly felt sick. He flinched as a sudden wave of nausea overtook his body and was immediately replaced with severe anxiety. The anxious feeling only lasted three seconds, and it faded into a sudden urge to kill. This was something Finn had gotten used to, and something he thought about often. These random bouts of slightly going insane that didn't last long. He refused to tell anyone about it or let it show. Especially around those he cared about. The only thing about it that scared him was that over time, he knew he eventually wouldn't care about those close to him. That would be when he would finally succumb to what was possessing his mind. The Faultless could only wish his friends would join him later. Now, he felt like he was getting close to the verge of losing his mind very soon. Finn shook his hood, trying to calm the feeling. _"Not now… Later…"_ he thought to himself. Holley came back. "That was a fast call." Finn noted.

"Yeah, Mater wants us to go visit Radiator Springs. It has been a while since we've been there. I want to go, how about you, Finn?" asked Holley.

"Sure, I'll go." He smiled, hoping that visiting the American countryside and desert landscape would distract his mind.

"Great! I'll go tell Siddeley to get gassed up and ready to go." Holley turned and drove away a little faster than usual. Finn watched her go, and the feeling of losing his mind grew inside him again. He did not fight it.

They arrived in Radiator Springs rather quickly, but it wasn't quick enough for Holley. The entire flight had been uncomfortably quiet, there was hardly any conversation. Finn didn't talk much, and Holley mainly stared out the window. They spoke some, but it was never a full conversation. Just little sentences here and there that the young car tried so hard to turn into something that would last. No matter what it was - spy equipment, business, memories, past missions, even the weather - she just couldn't get him talking much. Holley gave up and began to just worry about Finn. It was obvious something was wrong, and even more obvious that he was not going to tell her. He hadn't been telling her anything, even if it wasn't important. Because of that, Holley had kept to herself. She used to be able to talk to him about anything, regardless of what it was. They had become quite close since they had met not even a year ago, and sometimes Holley would find herself going to Finn for more problems than she would go to anyone else for. Now she couldn't get within ten feet of him without feeling tiny, scared, and like he would harm her.

As soon as Siddeley landed, Holley got off and was immediately greeted by Mater.

"Hiya, Holley!" he hollered happily, driving quickly up to her.

"Mater! Hello!" Holley was so glad to see someone who looked happy, for a change.

"Hi, Finn!" Mater waved as he looked behind his girlfriend.

"Hello." Finn's British accent made his tone more sinister than it should have been. Mater didn't seem to notice.

"Let's go inta town and greet ever'body else. I'm sure they'll be happy ta see you two!" he urged them to follow. "So Holley, have ya perfected the skill of backwards drivin' yet?"

"Not entirely. I've still got to practice more if I'm ever to be as great as the World's Best Backwards Driver." Holley admitted, nudging Mater slightly.

"Well, it's a self-proclaimed title, but I'll bet my towin' hook it's true!" Mater jumped and turned around, driving backwards. "Hey, how's 'bout we have a little friendly competition later? Me an' you driving backwards to see who's faster?" Mater eagerly swung his cable back and forth, mimicking a tail.

"Of course! That sounds like it could be fun. It'll help me better my skill, too. Ornament Valley has the perfect terrain, and Tailfin Pass has all those turns to practice on." Holley remembered. While those two talked, the two behind them were just out of earshot.

"Finn, you hardly talked on the way here. You feeling okay?" Siddeley questioned with doubt.

"Yes, I'm fine." answered Finn in an almost annoyed tone. He realized his attitude and changed it. "I'm just a little tired. I have been for these last few days."

"Are you sick?"

"No. Actually, I don't know." Finn sighed heavily. Just like he wasn't going to tell Holley, he wasn't going to tell the jet, either. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

That, was a straight-up lie.

"Well, you seemed like you didn't really want to come here. I wouldn't have the slightest idea why, as the folks here are very nice cars and the town itself is quite charming. In fact, if you two stay for more than a day, I may stay a while as well. I've become acquainted with the friendly staff and airplanes at the Ornament Valley Airport." Siddeley told Finn, gazing around at the landscape. The two went into town in silence, and Finn tried to make himself more like Finn McMissile, not whoever he was turning into. It was extremely tempting to snap and run away, but he didn't want the others to go after him. He would do it soon, because he wanted to and because he felt he couldn't control it for much longer.

 **...**

"Almoooooost! You gotta go faster'n that if you wanna beat me!" Mater triumphed after he and Holley did their little competition. "But I think you can do it one of these days."

"Oh, I don't know about that. Everyone has their unbeatable talent, and I know that yours is driving backwards. I don't think I could ever be as great as the world's best." doubted Holley with a good sportsmanship smile.

"Well, just remember one thing. Ya don't need to know where you're going. Just need to know where you've been." The couple made their way back into town and stopped at Flo's, where a lot of the townsfolk were talking and laughing. Holley was so glad to be around such cheerful, kind cars; it was a nice change from so many awkward, uncomfortable days with Finn. She pulled into a stall, and Mater went to the one next to her. Flo pulled up to them.

"There you are, Holley! I was wondering when you were going to stop by the V8!" Flo warmly greeted in her southernly sassy tone. "What can I get you, honey?"

"I guess I'll take a quart of oil." Holley smiled, always loving the atmosphere the show car brought anywhere.

"Comin' right up!" Flo's eyes drifted to the dent Holley refused to get rid of. "I see you still have that dent there."

"Why, of course. I have learned to appreciate dents and see them as valuable." Holley looked over to Mater, who had just got his order taken by Mia. "It may not look like it, but this dent is embedded with the memory of the first field agent mission I ever went on. And when I met this massively charming tow truck." She reached out her tire and brushed it against Mater's, causing him to smile at the compliment.

"You two really are perfect for each other. Both just as crazy as the other." said a strangely cheerful voice. Holley jumped at the sound of it and couldn't believe she had pulled into the stall right next to Finn without realizing it. She looked over to him, but didn't see anything unusual about him. "Of course, I don't mean that personally. Just as a friendly joke." Finn added. Holley suddenly smiled at him and found herself talking to him before she could prevent herself from it.

"I don't take it personally. Not from anyone close, that is." she added. "If a random stranger said that, I'd get offended, and I am not a car to mess with." Her gun popped out of her side, pointing at nobody but the sky, and disappeared back into her.

"Which is why you make an excellent spy. You can take advantage of any car easily. Especially using that one really impressive tactic you pulled in the simulation. Pretending to be the victim." Finn recalled, genuinely smiling at Holley. "No one will want to mess with you, and I'm glad to call you my partner. It helps to have a very sneaky car by your side." he added.

"I'll bet it does. Sometimes, I wish Holley lived here so I could see her more an' have someone to look out for me when I get distracted." Mater said. "Sheriff and Lightnin' say I tip tractors too much, and they have stampeded through the town more than once. Guess I need some convincin' not ta tip tractors as much, but it does pass the time when no one needs a tow."

"Well don't worry Mater. If those tractors get out, this sneaky spy will help you stay out of trouble." Holley winked at Mater, slightly revealing her mischievous side.

"But everyone will still-a know who tipped the tractors." Luigi pointed out, who was on the other side of the V8 stalls. "And now we know who will be in on-a tipping them."

"Which means you'll just get in trouble too." Finn smirked. "So much for being a sneaky spy."

"You all act like it's already happened. And Finn you were the one who called me sneaky." Holley shot him a playful glare.

"Well, this is tractor tipping we're talking about, which you've never done. And I've been wrong before." the older spy said, shooting back a playful glare of his own.

"Whatever." Holley sassed, exaggeratedly rolling her eyes for effect. "You still don't know for a fact that I can't do it. I've never gone, as you said so, ha! Can't assume things!"

"Or can I?"

"If I may interrupt, tractor tipping can get you in trouble." Sarge suddenly piped up. "Are you sure it's a good idea to discuss doing just that, while Sheriff is here?" The café went silent as Holley realized Sarge was right. Acts of stupid fun can land one in hot water, and Sheriff was looking at her with a windshield frame raised.

"You plannin' something later?" he asked accusingly. "Surely not. Spies are more responsible than that, right?" Holley and Finn looked at each other.

"Most of the time. We can have our days of just goofing off." Finn admitted. "Like that time you and all and the racers from the World Grand Prix came to London and played around with the simulations."

"Oh yeah, I remember that." Sheriff remembered. Then he got a puzzled look. "I just still don't know why we brought Chick Hicks with us. He certainly was a jerk when we first met him." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'm surprised the Queen requested to race with us." Sarge put in. "That was an honor to compete with Her Majesty."

"We oughta do it again sometime, man." Fillmore suggested. "The battle races were especially great." All the cars gave him a strange look. "What?" he questioned when all eyes were on him.

"Tu, il hippy chi è tutti per pace e amore, è piaciuto sabbiatura noi con missili, il tiro noi con pistole macchina, che soffia noi fino con Skate Jacks, e lato bashing vostro modo a al primo posto?" Guido looked in disbelief. "Io non lo credere esso."

"Uh, Luigi?" Fillmore began to ask.

"Guido says that he is-a shocked you enjoyed harming us all." the Fiat answered. "And by the looks of it, everyone else is too." Fillmore's eyes scanned over everyone, and he quickly explained.

"I sent all those attacks with love, dudes." he assured.

"Even when you side bashed the crap out of us?" Flo reminded, coming back with Mater's and Holley's oil. "Even though they're fake, those simulations can hurt!" She dropped the cans in front of the two.

"But it was all with love, man. Just a friendly competition, like Finn called it."

"It sure didn't feel friendly." a loud voice objected. "Y'all are lucky ya didn't take my spoiler off with those explosions." Everyone at the V8 turned to see a very colorful group of cars approaching.

"Wingo?" Sheriff said, surprised. "And the others? What are you all doing here?"

"Eh, just taking a drive around on the interstate. Decided to go down Route 66 and see ya guys." answered Wingo. "Y'all act like it's a surprise to see us."

"I remember you four. And coming from me being here, it kind of is surprising to see you." affirmed Holley. "You four look like you don't belong here at all." They all looked at themselves with their mirrors.

"Heh heh, I guess it would be a shock." Boost chuckled. "It's not every day you see three imports and a flashy muscle car in, ahem, Hillbilly Hell." That prompted everyone to laugh, remembering when Lightning gave Radiator Springs that nickname. "But in all seriousness, we actually love comin' here."

"Especially on karaoke night!" DJ of course had to say. "Yo Flo, when's the next one?" The former Motorama Girl turned to the Reko-Do Spinner.

"Hm, how about one tonight? We have the party car here, so why not?" she suggested.

"Ooh, yeah!" DJ said happily. He looked at the two spies. "Holley, Finn, hopefully you two will stay 'till tomorrow. 'Cause when DJ's in the house, heh, let's just say you will forever know my name." Finn and Holley had only heard of the kinds of dance parties DJ has. Add in singing, and one can only imagine what that would turn into.

"Can we please stay, Finn?" the younger spy asked. Finn chuckled.

"Well I don't see why not." Suddenly, Finn looked mischievous and playful. "In fact, I'd love to see how Americans party and compare to the discos of Britain." He smirked challengingly. DJ smirked back. Challenge accepted.

"Devon Montgomery Johnston the Third and you will remember it." he said. "Let's party."

And so they partied. All night, to be exact. What started with 18 cars, ended with 800. The dance and karaoke were held on Main Street in the middle of Radiator Springs, and it was just about as loud and crazy as anyone could think. It wasn't a private party, so everyone could join, and it didn't take long for cars to start piling in. Anyone passing through was urged to stay, and most of them did. The party was so loud, that cars on the interstate heard it and were drawn to it. Guests who were staying at the Cozy Cone and didn't want to party, were moved up to the Wheel Well Motel. The party also grew from cars calling their friends to join. So many cars had joined, that before midnight the chaos had spilled outside of town. Sometime during the night, somebody had called for a portable stage and dance floor, and got it set up. At some point, neon lights were brought in with black lights, and every car glowed in the moonless night. A little bit later, while arguably the best dance song was playing, fireworks were brought in by some random cars to set off later, as a way to end the party with a bang. They were placed behind the stage and it was so dark that Snot Rod, who had wandered back there by accident, didn't see how close his side was to them. One fiery sneeze later, and the dark sky was lit up with the most colorfully insane display of fireworks anyone has ever seen. The cheer that rose after nearly peeled the paint off of Snot Rod, and he shyly got on-stage and took the credit for the show. Every car said the party was one of the best they had ever gone to, even though it was hastily thrown together and not planned out. Needless to say, DJ was quite proud of that near rave of his. And indeed, by the end, everyone knew his name.

The next morning, if one could call it a morning, the early sun shone on the mess of last night's event. Confetti and streamers littered the ground, broken bottles and crushed cans lay here and there, and cars were scattered around, passed out and some were drunk off ethanol. After the party, some cars had left, but a majority of the ones who stayed ended up falling asleep. A few had woken up already and left, but there were still a lot more to go. Among the ones who hadn't woken up were the townsfolk, the Tuners, and both spies. Holley was asleep leaning on a rock, and was having a horrible dream...

 **...**

 _"Please don't do this!" Holley pleaded. There was no way to escape. He had her cornered and was not letting her go. "Finn, please… Make him stop!" The silver car only looked down at his former partner, who was stuck in a deeply caved-in part of the facility._

 _"I'm afraid I can't do that, Miss Shiftwell. You know too much, and I've been looking everywhere for you." Finn smirked. "I guess I have taught you well to stay out of sight." He looked down at her again. "I never meant for you to learn all that information. You refuse to have your memory erased, so you force me to extreme measures. I've nearly torn up all of Great Britain searching for you. Now I've got you right where I want you." Finn looked to his right, at the vehicle who held the gun. "Mater?"_

 _"Yes, Finn?" the tow truck answered, not taking his eyes off the trembling purple spy._

 _"Any last thing you'd like to say to Holley?" Mater's tire holding the rifle lowered a little. He sighed, blinked slowly, and fixed his hazel eyes on Holley's green ones._

 _"Holley, I'm sorry it has ta come to this." he said quietly._

 _"You wouldn't do this! Don't you love me?" The question hung in the air like a frozen raindrop, and at this point nobody could guess the answer. Even Finn was curious to know._

 _"I did. An' I still do. But I'm sorry I have ta do this." Mater pointed the rifle at Holley again._

 _"You don't have to do this! What is wrong with everybody?" Holley was so full of mixed emotions, being confused, angry, and terrified at the same time really sucked._

 _"You can still join us. Just give yerself over to our side, and you'll be fine." Behind the hate, Mater almost had a pleading look in his eyes, as if he wanted her to._

 _"Never. I could never be with your side." Holley spat. Mater looked up in an annoyed way and sighed._

 _"Ah-'ight then." He aimed again for the third time. "Dadgum, Holley why do ya have ta make this so hard for me?! Part of me is gon' regret this, but I'll git over it soon."_

 _"Wait!" Holley pleaded again, raising up her front end. "Tell me what is wrong with everybody!" For the third time, Mater lowered his gun._

 _"You wouldn't understand. He got me, and that's all I can say." Holley was confused._

 _"Who is 'he'? Is it Finn?" she demanded. Both males shook their hoods._

 _"No." Mater said, aiming the gun for the last time._

 _"Far from it." Finn sighed, and his voice was the last thing she heard. Mater shot Holley._

 **...**

"Holley? Holley! Holley wake up! Wake up, my dear!"

"AH-! Huh? What?" Holley felt someone shaking her. She barely opened her eyes and saw the first light of dawn spanning over the desert. She was also seeing Finn, shaking her fully awake. "Finn?!" Holley nearly screamed and had an urge to run away. That dream felt so real, like it actually happened. But she stayed in place, and just shrunk back against the rock. "What happened?" she breathed out heavily.

"You were having a nightmare. I was asleep over there, and your cries woke me up." Finn looked at her with real concern. Even before he asked, and regardless of whether or not she told him the truth, he knew what she was dreaming about. "What was it?"

"It was a bad one…" Holley shook a little. Where Mater had shot her, right above the windshield, was burning. She kept looking up at it.

"Something wrong with your roof?" Finn inquired.

"Uh, no." Holley said quickly. "You said I was crying? Was I yelling anything?"

"Something about 'Finn make him stop', and something else about what is wrong with everybody." His eyes searched hers for answers. "What was that dream about?" Holley looked down.

"Nothing. Nothing important, at least." She couldn't tell him. The older spy reached out a tire and placed it under Holley's face, forcing her to look up.

"Hey, look at me. That was not a normal dream." Finn said firmly yet gently, pulling his tire back. "Now tell me, what was that nightmare about?" Holley was too afraid to tell him, but it was hard to lie to Finn McMissile. She told him all about it and noticed that he never took his eyes off her until after she was done. Finn was looking past her, thinking.

"Hm." was the only noise he made.

"What does it mean, Finn? If it means anything at all…"

"I don't know." He did know. "But don't worry about it too much. What were you thinking about before you passed out?"

"Honestly, the party. I don't know why I wouldn't dream about it." Holley shook her hood and changed the subject. "Whatever, I guess. Dreams are strange, to say the least."

"Very." Finn turned around to see the others begin waking up. "Looks like everybody is coming alive finally." Holley peered around her partner and saw a few random cars opening their eyes. A green car blinked sleepily and yawned. A sliver of white appeared across a black car's windshield as he opened his eyes. A bright yellow car stretched her axles and shook off the tiredness of sleep. Here and there, cars were waking, and Holley's eyes scanned the desert and landed on Mater. He was awake and heading straight for her and Finn. Holley got a little nervous again and hid behind Finn like a little kid. She wasn't scared of her boyfriend, she just wanted to get that dream out of her mind before talking to anyone else.

"Mornin', Finn." Mater's voice sounded much friendlier than it did in the nightmare. "Boy that was some party last night! That DJ can really turn Radiator Springs inta a town that don't sleep!" The closer Mater got, the closer Holley got to the ground and the more she dug herself into Finn's side.

"Americans sure know how to 'throw down', as some would say." Finn nodded in agreement, fidgeting slightly as Holley's fender pressed into his door. "I don't think I've ever danced quite like that before or seen moves like some were doing." He positioned himself to conceal his partner better.

"I didn't even know ya could dance, what with being such a serious spy and all. Hey, is that Holley on the other side of ya?" Finn felt her press herself more into him.

"Yessssssss, but she needs a moment alone." He drew out the word 'yes' in an uncertain way, not sure of what Holley wanted him to do. Mater looked a little concerned.

"Uh, okay, I guess." Mater saw that she seemed to be hiding and didn't question it further. Holley would come around and talk to him when she was ready. The rusty truck backed up and turned, heading over to Lightning. The racecar was awake but unmoving as Sally was still sleeping and leaning on him. Finn looked at Holley with his mirror.

"I'm going to go over to everybody and help clean up this mess. You stay here until you've woken up completely." he instructed.

"But I am awake."

"Not entirely, my dear." Finn drove off, and Holley watched him go, knowing exactly what he meant. It didn't take long, but Holley forced herself to forget the nightmare and socialize. She really perked up when Mater kissed her on the fender out of nowhere. Luckily for her, no one was around.

"What was that for?" she asked, feeling her hood start to burn close to her windshield. Her purple color wasn't enough to hide the blush, though.

"For you." Mater poked. "Ya had me worried this morning, hidin' on the other side of Finn and needin' a moment alone. I asked him what was wrong with ya, but he wouldn't say."

"Oh, well don't worry about it. Just a silly nightmare. Needed to shake it off for a second." Holley said rather quickly, hoping Mater wouldn't keep asking about it.

"Uh-huh…" Mater sounded like he didn't believe her. "Musta been scary if it freaked out an adult."

"Yes, horribly scary. Please don't tell anyone I was afraid of a little nightmare. That's embarrassing…"

"Alright I won't. Why would I tell anyone that? Simple nightmares." But Mater knew better. He may be a hillbilly, but he's not stupid. He knew for a fact that was no childish nightmare Holley had. It was more than that, and he wanted to know what it was. Another thing he knew was that Holley wasn't going to tell him anytime soon, so he let it slide. Again, she would come around and tell him when she was ready.

That whole morning and some of the afternoon was spent cleaning up the mess. The stage and dance floor were the first to go, then all the lights were packed up and all the sound equipment and speakers went with them. Many random cars stayed behind and helped clean the confetti and litter, while the hungover and still drunk cars were all sent to the car wash for a cold shower. Eventually, the desert looked, well, deserted, and everyone went home. The townsfolk all went back to Radiator Springs, freshened up, and began to open up the shops for the day. Everyone did their own thing, and Holley was at the end of town by the statue of Stanley, looking down Main Street.

"That sure was some party, wasn't it?" commented a voice next to her. She was ripped from her idle thoughts and jumped.

"Huh? Oh, Snot Rod! Ha ha, you scared me!" she exclaimed. The muscle car smiled.

"Sorry. Usually I sneeze before I startle anyone." he laughed, pulling up close beside her. Holley could feel the heat from his side exhausts, and immediately remembered why cars called him 'Snot' Rod. She cautiously sidestepped away from him while looking at the four flame-shooting pipes.

"Um…" she started, not wanting him to take it personally that he was being avoided.

"Hm?" Snot Rod saw what Holley was doing, and he too looked at his side. "Oh, don't worry 'bout my flames. I can always tell when I'm about ta sneeze, so I won't burn you. Trust me, bro." He gave her a trusting smile, and Holley returned it, liking the slight gangster slang he put on his words. For some reason, she suddenly felt like it was silly to back away from the orange car.

"Okay, just don't light me up and I'll trust you." Holley giggled.

"'kay." Snot Rod went silent. "ACHOO!"

"ACK!" Holley shot forward, but stopped as soon as she heard laughing. "What the-?" She turned around and saw Snot Rod, laughing his rear bumper off.

"Oh man," Snotty interrupted himself with laughter. "you, you thought I sneezed fo' real! Ha ha haaaaaa that's too great!" Holley just stared at him and couldn't help it. She also broke into laughter and took her place between him and the statue.

"You sure got me good. I honestly thought you sneezed!" she laughed out. "I oughta give you a good scare back." She playfully smacked his hood with her tire.

"Ouch, ha ha, suuuuuuure. Good luck with that, spy-girl." he taunted. Holley slapped Snotty again. "Hey!" He raised his left tire and rubbed at where she hit him twice. "Okay, I understand the abuse, but why my hood?!"

"Would you rather I hit your undercarriage?" The purple spy looked evilly at the muscle car, whose bright green eyes went wide.

"You wouldn't!" he panicked.

"Try me." Holley dared. "It'll be easy, since those oversized back tires of yours put you on display a little." Snot Rod instantly tried lowering his back end, which didn't really do much. "But I don't think I'll hit you there anytime soon. Besides, your front is closer to the ground, making your hood the easiest sensitive thing to punch." Holley raised her tire like she was going to hit him, and Snotty instantly flinched hard and backed up. But he stopped when he heard her laughing.

"You-!" he started, knowing exactly what just happened. "That was your scare fo' me, wasn't it?" Snot Rod pulled up beside her.

"You better believe it was! I told you I was going to get you back, and I did." The spy smiled, happy with herself.

"I'll say ya did more than just that. Look at my hood! Ya put a small dent in it!" Snotty narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you're in for it now. Next time you guys invite us ta do those simulations, I'm gonna getcha so good!"

"I'm sure you'll try." Holley brushed off his threat airily.

"I won't try. I wil-a-ah, ah… ACHOO!" Snot Rod kept his earlier promise. He shot forward a little so he didn't burn his friend with his sneeze. Holley watched in amazement as flames taller than Snotty himself shot up into the air.

 _"I wonder what he looks like at night time…"_ she thought. "Wow, Snot those are some pretty impressive exhaust pipes you got there." she complimented.

The muscle car sniffed hard. "Huh? Oh, ya I guess dey are. Dey sure help clear da highway." Snot Rod backed up and coughed, clearing his throat, and voice. "These allergies… Can't get away from 'em." he said in a defeated sigh. "Not even gettin' some clean mountain air really helps."

"You would think it'd help."

"Kinda. My sneezes weren't as bad when the doctor was here. Sadly, Doc Hudson passed a while back." Snotty backed up again to sneeze, this time less powerfully.

"I wish I could have met him. He was the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, right?" Holley asked.

"Yeah. A doctor, judge and legendary racer. He sure was a great car." The muscle car pulled back up to his spot. The two were silent for a second. "So, you just chillin' here for the time being?"

"Yes. Nothing to do, so I'm just taking in my surroundings and observing everybody."

"Cool, cool. How long are you and Finn gonna stay?"

"Um, I don't know actually. I hope we stay a little while longer, but I think it's up to Siddeley when we leave. He's how we got here, so that means he's how we're leaving, too." answered Holley.

"But don't you have wings and the ability to fly? You could leave whenever ya want."

"Yes, but I'm no plane or jet. I would run out of fuel before I got back to London."

"Yeah, probably." Snot Rod peered around his supercharger. "I don't know 'bout you, but I'm kinda hungry and gas sounds real good right now." he said, still looking at the V8.

"I'm feeling kinda low, too." Holley was looking at the sky. It was a nice pretty blue color.

"Also, I think someone wants you ta join him." Holley looked at Snotty.

"What?"

"Heh, you're doing an excellent job of observing everybody, aren'tcha?" Snot Rod shook his hood slightly.

"What do you mean?" prodded Holley with cut eyes.

"Well considering the fact that-" he backed up to sneeze "UHKCHOO! Ugh, dat sownded weird…" He cleared his throat again and sniffed. "Uh, like I was saying, considering the fact that your boyfriend has been tryin' ta get yo attention for the past two minutes, you clearly must be the "master" of observing." Snot Rod joked while driving forward.

"Are you serious?" Holley pulled out next to him and saw Mater, waiting for her with smiling eyes and an empty stall next to him. "Well you were distracting me. It's your fault."

"My fault? Nooooooo no no, ya only have ya-self ta blame." Snotty passed in front of Holley to cut across the street, and she got a good look at his license plate.

"Drag City, huh? You a drag racer?" she guessed.

"Oh yeah! Ya wanna race me sometime?" he challenged. The two pulled into the V8 and went into stalls on opposite sides.

"Maybe someday." Holley looked at Mater. "Sorry I didn't notice you were trying to get my attention. Mr. Sneezer over there was quite distracting." Snot Rod cut his eyes towards her.

"Of course. Blame the guy with allergies." He rolled his eyes.

"Well your sneezes do clear roads, like you said." Holley reminded him.

"Which is why we loving havin' ya with us on the highway." Boost put in, who was next to the muscle car.

"Y'all are just using me?! Gee, thanks." Snot exaggerated an annoyed tone. Boost laughed.

"No, your allergies are just a bonus, bro." Everyone around watched as the two Tuners put on a small show of arguing, though none of it was actually real.

"They say best friends argue a lot, but me an' Lightnin' hardly argue." Mater said after watching them for a few moments. "I mean, we have fought before, but I'm glad it's over and we'll never have ta fight again."

"I hope we never have any serious fights." Holley hoped quietly.

"We won't." Mater smiled brightly at her. "I don't like fightin', so I'll never induce any."

"I won't either." Holley touched Mater's tire, and they stayed like that for a long time. Sometime later, a small thought popped up in the back of Holley's mind, but she immediately pushed it away. She didn't want to think that kind of stuff, especially about Mater. But that nightmare had other plans. As the day went on, it poked at her with a relentless persistence that made the spot above Holley's windshield burn again. She pushed it down in her mind, trying so hard to lock it away, and put on a fake act of being happy when someone noticed she was acting strange. _"Why is this nightmare attacking me so?"_ she thought angrily. _"It was just a simple dream with a sinister tone, right...?"_ Holley talked to Finn about it again, but as much as he wanted to, the elder spy couldn't help much.

"I honestly do not know what is wrong." Finn said once he and Holley were taking a drive alone and away from eavesdropping ears. He really didn't know what was wrong or why she dreamed that, but he certainly was interested. Holley took note of how interested he was.

"I got rid of it earlier, but it came back and I literally cannot stop thinking about it." she complained. Finn thought for a moment.

"I don't know what to tell you, my dear." he sighed, shrugging his tires. "Just do something that will get your mind off of it. Hang out with your friends. Do a few laps on Willy's Butte. Or just wait. It should go away in time."

"I hope so." Holley sighed. "Usually when I have nightmares, I can get them to go away within an hour. But not this one. It felt so real too."

"Don't dwell on it. Forget about it, Holley. It didn't happen, Mater didn't shoot you, you're not dead, I am not…" Finn hesitated for the fastest second ever. "evil, and that's all."

"Okay. I just don't know why I feel uneasy about it all." Holley and Finn pulled back into Radiator Springs. "But I'll do what you said to get my mind off it."

"You do that, and when we go back home, I want to hear about zero nightmares, alright?" Holley nodded. Finn smiled. "Okay then. Go spend time with your friends and do whatever you crazy kids do these days." At that moment, Wingo zoomed by with a little kid following him. The Tuner drifted gracefully around the corner by the Courthouse, but the kid ended up spinning, losing control, then slammed into the building Mrs. Muffler. Wingo turned around and his eyes went wide when he saw her.

"Ouch!" The little car backed away from the wall, with a tire rubbing her fender as best she could. "Wow! Did you see that?! I almost drifted that time, Mr. Wingo!" she exclaimed happily.

"You crashed." he monotoned.

"Yeah, but I almost drifted. Do you think I can do it like you and your friends someday?"

"Eh, you'll get the hang of it soon. C'mere, lemme see your fender. Your parents will kill me if ya have scratches." The little car rolled up to Wingo, and he raised her face with his tire, examining the kid's paint.

"Do I have any?" she asked with excitement.

"Uhhh, yeah but Ramone can fix that within a minute." Wingo slid his tire across the girl's fender. "Yeesh, ya got dents too."

"Ooh, my mom said I have to go back without a scratch." she giggled. "If she sees this, you're in trouble!"

"I'm gonna getcha fixed, don't worry." assured Wingo.

"Only if you can catch me!" The little kid turned to make a run for it, clearly wanting to get away from her drifting instructor and get him in trouble.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, tiny car." Wingo warned, trying to sound like he wasn't the least bit afraid of the kid's parents coming out of nowhere and seeing her. The small vehicle got about halfway down Main Street before stopping.

"Why not?" she asked.

"There's a reason my gang is called the 'Tuner Cars'."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I can catch ya in an instant."

The little car scoffed. "Yeah, right." she sassed. "I doubt that." Within a second, she found herself staring right at Wingo's grille, inches from her front. She looked up at him, eyes wide and mouth agape. "What? How did you…?"

"What was that? Couldn't hear ya." The Tuner was smirking confidently; he loved showing off his speed as much as his paint job and spoiler. "Doubt me now?"

"No…"

"Good."

"How are you that fast!?" the little car exclaimed. "You must have been going a million miles an hour!"

"Nah, I wasn't goin' that fast." Wingo chuckled. "Ya see, what most cars don't know, is that I'm detailed on the outside, but under my hood, I'm all tuned up."

"What's under your hood?"

"A lot of powerful stuff ya wouldn't understand, kiddo. Now follow me, Sasha. I ain't gettin' in trouble because of some kid today."

Back in front of the Courthouse, Finn and Holley watched the whole thing. And Holley couldn't help but say something.

"Having fun babysitting, Ladderbutt?" she called. Wingo's brake lights came on, and he slowly backed up, turning to face her.

"What was that, spy-girl?" he asked, windshield frame half-raised.

"What? I didn't say anything." Holley said, looking round innocently. "Ladderbutt…" she added quietly. Wingo was in front of her within seconds.

"I heard that! You betta watch it, sweetheart." He paused. "And who told you to call me that?"

"Guess."

"I am SO killing DJ later…"

"So, this is what you crazy kids do nowadays." Finn observed before anything else was said. "Harshly joking around with each other. Things sure have changed." He looked Wingo up and down. "And styles." he added.

"Well, I look good, right?" The Tuner smirked at Finn, then looked to Holley again. "And ta answer your question, I'm not exactly babysitting. Jus' teaching this little one how ta drift." Sasha pulled up next to Wingo and shyly waved a tire 'hello'. "She saw us Tuners drifting up in Tailfin Pass and begged to be taught."

"I still can't believe my mom and dad let me play with him and his friends!" Sasha exclaimed, suddenly not shy anymore. "They are the coolest! They're all so pretty, they glow, they all know how to drift, one goes really fast, one plays music and can dance, one can shoot fire from his sides, and this one is teaching me how to drift!" It was so amusing, seeing how excited a little kid was about three imports and one muscle car, that the spies could only smile. If she was so impressed by the Tuners, one could only imagine how she would be with spy cars.

"Well that sounds like loads of fun." Holley smiled, resisting the urge to show off her wings and fly.

"Do you two know how to drift?" the kid asked curiously.

"Yes, actually. It's very easy." nodded Finn.

"Whaaaaaaat? Everybody knows how to drift!" Sasha had to have been the easiest kid to surprise. "But that's why Mr. Wingo says I'm learning."

"And Mr. Wingo doesn't wanna get in trouble by Sasha's parents, so he has ta take her to get her dents and scratches repaired." Wingo reminded. He backed up and began to drive off. "Come on, squirt. Let's get ya fixed."

"I've never had a dent removed. Will it hurt?"

"No. Feels funny, but no pain." Wingo turned his body a little. "Later, spies." he bid them.

"See ya around, Ladderbutt." Holley snickered and got glared at by Wingo in his mirror. Sasha laughed at him.

"Hey, can I call you Mr. Ladderbutt?" she giggled.

"No." said the Tuner.

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not, Mr. Ladderbu-?"

"No."

That most likely went on the whole way to Ramone's, but the two spies didn't stay to find out. They went their own ways to do their own things for the day. The rest of the day wasn't that eventful, just customers coming and going and cars going to Willy's Butte for a quick race, or to hang out. All was calm in Radiator Springs, and all was normal in Carburetor County. Well, almost all. While everyone was sane and doing their own thing in the town, someone high up on a cliff was totally the opposite as far as sanity goes.

 **...**

"Perfect…" he murmured to no one but himself. He looked down at the tiny machine by his tire. "Oh, Miss Shiftwell. If only you knew the truth about that nightmare. You're welcome for the warning, by the way." He slid the mechanism under him, where it folded itself up small and attached itself to his undercarriage. Scanning over the county, he turned and drove onto his helicopter. "It won't be long now..."

* * *

 ** _Hmmm who could this mystery car be? Could it be an actual character, or one of my OCs?_**

 ** _This is all I have completed so far. I am working on chapter four, so be prepared for it! This chapter had more of a humorous tone, with the exception of the dream. Hope y'all liked it! And thanks for the reviews! Finn's dark side will be fun to write about for sure, PASTAAAAA._**

 ** _Britishlover123, I've written a couple other fanfics, but this is the first one I've uploaded to this site. Thank you kindly for your review; I'm glad to see people enjoy my ideas I've had for stories!_**

 ** _Blue, is the story surprising to you? It'll be a real shocker later on!_**

 ** _And Feather, I do believe the person was joking about my story being cancer, because they have only read three fanfics and barely know what Internet Cancer is. Whew!_**


	5. Four

**_Annnnnd here's number four! If anyone hasn't yet, in my bio are descriptions to the OCs who exist in the real world, so check it out if you would like to! I'm going back and forth from writing this story to drawing a picture of a scene that'll happen in a future chapter, but I'll keep writing longer chapters if it pleases the viewers. Fanart is welcome, because I know some people make art of certain scenes in fanfiction. If anyone reads this story and wants to make art, go right ahead!_**

 ** _I just know kailaangel42 will like this chapter for a certain reason... You know I love you, my dear!_**

 ** _And now you may enjoy the darkness..._**

* * *

 _ **Four**_

For almost the rest of the year, things went back to the way they were. Holley was so glad that Finn was being himself and she had someone close to talk to about problems again. She had no more nightmares, and finally felt safe around her partner. He was nice to her again, talked to her a lot, and, because she was still a new field agent, was quite protective of her when they went out on missions. Holley was certain that her partner had finally gotten past whatever had been making him act off. After a couple of months, she completely forgot about Finn's odd behavior.

The act that Finn was putting on was working excellently. He sure was fooling everybody at C.H.R.O.M.E., including one of the closest cars to him. Holley asked only once what was wrong during those three months, and Finn told her the half-truth. He said he didn't feel right but refrained from telling her he felt evil. Holley never asked again, most likely because she wanted to forget about it, Finn suspected. At times, he kind of envied her. Forgetting about it and being normal again sounded great, but the elder spy couldn't do as the younger spy did. Every day, he felt like snapping, and every day he pushed it away, it came back stronger the next.

 _"No, I shall hold out until I defect automatically…"_ he often thought. It was both a horrible and okay decision. The longer he pretended, the more everyone trusted him and didn't feel threatened by him. And the more everyone trusted him, the more betrayed and confused they would be. But that was the beauty of turning on one's own, wasn't it?

Within that same year, many missions came up, and Finn and Holley enjoyed them all. Well, if one could say almost dying multiple times is enjoyable, that is. It was rather exhilarating to have one's life on the line when a mission turns to 'kill or be killed'. And Holley discovered that Finn was absolutely correct about feeling alive. You never feel more alive than when you're almost dead, he had once said, and he had never been more right. Especially three months before the end of the year, when the two nearly lost their lives and C.H.R.O.M.E. lost many of its…

"What?!" Finn's shocked voice startled Holley, who was assessing something. She put away her holographic screen and rolled over to him. They were both in the technical area, helping out there until needed otherwise. And by the sound of whoever Finn had been contacted by, 'otherwise' was going to happen soon. "All those blasted jalopies were sent to prison! There's no way it can be them specifically. You can't be serious. You just can't be. You're not. You are…"

"Serious about what? Finn, what is it?" Holley asked, slightly fearful. Finn turned to his partner.

"One fruity word. Lemons." he deadpanned.

"The same ones from the Allinol scam?"

"Yes. I was just informed that a few of them have apparently gotten out, caused an eighteen-car pileup, robbed a bank, and blew up a bridge."

"That sounds like something that needs to be taken up by the police. Not spies." Holley said.

"And they have a hostage that we apparently know and are hacking into secret databases." Finn added. "That's where we come in."

"And 'we' specifically being you and me?" Holley smirked, already knowing. Finn returned it.

"Oh, but of course, my dear."

The two spies headed out, both wondering how in the world the Lemons could escape their prison. Finn wasn't told how many they should expect, so they had no idea how outnumbered they were going to be. They saw the remnants of the pileup in the middle of the road, and the blown-up bridge. The bank had been taken care of already, and not too long afterwards they came upon the area where C.H.R.O.M.E. had been picking up the hacking signals. It was an alley full of street vendors, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Finn went through with Holley close behind. Neither looked at or talked to anybody, and they made it to the end, which ended with a brick wall behind a corner.

"A brick wall. Are you sure this is where the signals were coming from?" asked Holley with some doubt.

"Yes." Finn was looking at his tracker on his mirror. "I'm getting the signals from on the other side of this wall." He looked up at it, his aqua eyes searching it up and down. "There should be some sort of door here." Holley looked around Finn and saw something out of the ordinary.

"Hey, what's that?" She lightly shoved Finn aside. It was close to the ground and barely noticeable, but a young, trained eye would be quick to catch it. A brick, protruding out from the wall slightly, was just hardly visible. Dirt had been hastily shoved against it, and it looked like a stereotypical button to a secret room. Holley tapped it with her tire, and it slid back into the wall with a small click.

"Wow, I didn't even notice that." mumbled Finn, amused at his own failure to see it.

"You weren't looking along the ground." Before Holley could say anything else, the wall slid in and then to the side, revealing a dark hallway. A small gust of moldy air blew out and over the spies. They looked at each other, then Holley followed Finn inside. As soon as they got in, the wall slid back. "There goes our escape." Holley frowned.

"There might be another button to get out somewhere. But we'll find another way." Finn said from somewhere in the darkness. His headlights went on, revealing a tunnel made of the same brick as the wall. "Come on." Holley turned on her lights and followed.

After driving in the silence going down turns and hallways for about three minutes, the two came upon a more spacious area underground. They were up on a walkway, with a bunch of crates blocking the view of down below. They shut off their headlights and quietly crept out onto the metal walkway. Voices were talking quietly and loudly down below, and some were familiar.

 _"Sounds like Grem and Acer…"_ thought Holley. _"I'll bet they're the ringleaders in this…"_ Another voice spoke up, this one being angry and quite familiar…

"If you guys did not tie me up, I would be unleashing the 'Thunder' on all your bumpers!" the angry voice griped. "Cars will notice that I'm missing. I bet someone will come rescue me now."

"You bet, huh?" That Lemon's voice also sounded familiar. "We'll see."

"Finn!" Holley whispered loudly. "Does their hostage sound familiar?"

"Yes." He was looking down below through a gap between the crates. "I do believe we know who that is. Come here." Finn moved aside and motioned Holley over. She looked through the gap and was a little surprised at who she saw.

"What in the world is Chick Hicks doing here?" she asked quietly, yet shocked.

"That's exactly what I was wondering." whispered Finn. "Did they steal him from America?" He pushed aside a crate, rolled up beside Holley, and the two stayed silent to watch before taking action.

"What do you mean 'we'll see'?" demanded Chick. "I'm famous! Of course there's probably a search party out looking for me now!" He was tied up on a platform, though the ropes didn't look too secure. He had a couple of deep dents, one in his left hip and one on his right fender, meaning he put up a fight, but the four Lemons below outnumbered him somehow. Chick is a racecar, so he should have been able to outrun them at least. But considering he got caught, there must have been more than just four Lemons. One of the four, a light blue and yellow one, scoffed.

"Probably? You are even unsure of someone coming to find you." Vladimir Trunkov pointed out. Chick narrowed his eyes.

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are." said a voice over by a portable, high-tech-looking computer. It was a yellow car, Victor Hugo. He must have gotten fixed enough to where he didn't need Ivan to tow him everywhere. For now, at least. "You completely lost it when you were caught by us, and you were going on about not knowing if anyone was going to come get you the whole way here." Chick went silent.

"Whatever." he sighed. "Why, of all cars, did you all go for me?" Chick finally asked the question, and both spies leaned in closer to listen.

"Because," started Grem. "we know who you are, and we are aware you know two certain spies." Holley and Finn looked at each other.

"And? What does me knowing those two have anything to do with this?" Chick asked, annoyed.

"A lot of things, all of which we can't tell you." Grem teased, going over to Victor. "You know, it's a good thing you decided to vacation here and now in Great Britain."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll put it simple: Someone who has affiliations with C.H.R.O.M.E. showed up that we could carnap. You're exactly what we needed." Grem laughed smugly. "And to think you came all the way from America, just to get stolen!"

"How is that a good thing?" demanded Chick, now visibly a little nervous of what the Lemons might do.

"I never said it was a good thing for you~" Grem said in a mock tone. The Lemons laughed evilly, and Victor held up a tire.

"I have almost hacked all the way into the system." He lowered his voice so no one could hear and whispered something to the other three Lemons. They all looked around the room, causing Chick to do the same. Finn and Holley backed up out of the Lemons' sight, who were over in the corner, but the two could still see Chick. The racecar's brown eyes searched along the walkway until they landed on the two spies. His eyes widened for a second, and a quick shhh motion from Holley made Chick keep quiet. The Lemons left their computer and three came back into view for the spies

"You're quiet all of a sudden." noted Acer. "We couldn't get you to shut up when we first carnapped you."

"Just have nothing to say anymore." said Chick quickly. "I've ranted all that I can."

"You, a super arrogant, full of himself kind of car, suddenly has nothing to say anymore?" Acer looked shocked. "Wow."

"Heh heh, well I'm not a Zaporozhets, Volgar Hugo, Gremlin, or Pacer." Chick said distastefully, eyeing Vladimir, Victor, Grem, then Acer in that order. "Not being considered a 'Lemon' makes it easier to brag about yourself. But you four wouldn't know what that's like, so never mind." Chick's captors looked at him with expressions of clear disapproval.

"You remind me a bit of that American secret agent we caught earlier this year. He was a car with an attitude and he made fun of us like you just did." Grem brought up. "The first of two differences between you and Agent Rod Redline is that you're arrogant and all about yourself."

"That's really what cars think of me? Hmph." Chick paused. "Rod Redline, huh? Never heard of him. You say you caught him? What happened after you did?"

"What do you think?" challenged Acer. "We caught him, interrogated him, and he made the mistake of making fun of us."

"So, what happened?"

"The second difference between you and him." Acer snorted. "We killed him." He said it casually, as if killing innocent lives is a pastime thing. Chick's eyes widened slightly and he closed his mouth, which had been open to make another snooty remark. He looked around the room, then discretely over to where Finn and Holley were. They weren't there.

"Why would they need someone who knows us?" Holley pondered to Finn when they had backed out of sight.

"I don't have the slightest idea. Just like I don't know what they're plotting down there." Finn said quietly. They were about to turn around when suddenly…

"I knew you two would show up sooner or later." growled a voice behind the spies. Finn and Holley were caught off guard. There was a clash of metal, and Finn suddenly lurched forward and fell off the walkway, crashing to the ground below.

"Finn!" Holley yelled as she watched her partner fall grille-first on the concrete, then onto his side.

"Normally I do not hit pretty ladies, but I am in a bad mood so I will make an exception for you, beautiful." The same crash noise sounded again, but this time Holley felt it. A dull pain spread along her backside, and she was shoved forward, falling and landing on Finn. He fell over on his roof with Holley on top of him right-side-up. The two stared forward, Finn looking mad with a pained expression and Holley looking a little unsure of how they were going to get out of this. Grem stared at them with half his windshield frame raised.

"Well, looky here. Your saviors have arrived, Hicks." he presented, amused.

"That was one way to make an entrance…" grumbled Finn.

"You guys couldn't have made a better one?" Chick complained. "Y'know, like blowing through the wall like a cool spy?"

"You ask for too much sometimes. Now I see why Radiator Springs didn't really like you at first." Holley mumbled. Chick was about to say something, but the clicks of guns popping out of the four Lemons cut him off.

"Don't try anything funny, spies." threatened Acer, aiming his gun at them. "Although you both look kinda funny like that."

"What are you four trying to do now?" demanded Holley with a growl. "And how did you all escape your prison?"

"You honestly expect us to tell you?" asked Vladimir with false shock, coming around the corner. He was the one who knocked Finn and Holley off the walkway. "Not a chance." He rolled over to the computer and looked at the screen. "In a few minutes, we will be in the system."

"Perfect." said Grem, grinning. "If we can pull this off, then no one can stop us."

"Except, you know, maybe them." interrupted Chick, pointing to the spies with a tire.

"Ha, you only think." Victor shook his hood. "They will not be able to do anything. No one will. Not even her." He nodded towards Holley. Victor smirked evilly, looking directly at the upside-down Finn. "He will not let her, anyway."

"Do anything about what? Finn won't let me? What are you talking about?" demanded Holley.

"Holley…" Finn said below her in a warning tone.

"What are they talking about, Finn?"

The elder spy thought quickly. It was clear he didn't want to explain anything. But…how did Victor know?

"They're tricking us, Holley. I honestly have no idea what they are talking about or doing." That was 90% true. Finn had no idea what on Earth they were talking about. But he felt that whatever it was, it had to do with his slowly corrupting mind. He just didn't know how they knew, _if_ they knew, that is. And if they did, that might explain why Victor appeared to know something about Finn that _nobody_ knew. But yet, _how_?

"Right…" Holley said, sounding unsure. She turned her attention to the Lemons, wanting to get out of her awkward on-top-of-Finn's-undercarriage position. But every move she or Finn made, Grem and Acer aimed their guns at the spies' faces, and Vladimir and Victor aimed at their sides. Suddenly Holley got an idea. She sighed defeatedly. "Okay, you four have us now, we can't go anywhere. Might as well tell us this one thing, then kill us after. What are you hacking into over there?" She said it rather fast and scuffed her right tire against Finn's left axle. He understood what Holley was trying to do: Distract then attack.

"Tell you? Why should we?" questioned Vladimir.

"Because we came all this way to take you four down, and ended up getting done in before we could," She paused, looking over to Chick, "make an entrance. At least tell us what you're doing." The four Lemons exchanged glances, then Victor turned around and slowly rolled over to the computer.

"First off, why do you think we would kill you? Second off, we are hacking into C.H.R.O.M.E.'s security system and database." he explained. "It is almost done, too."

"C.H.R.O.M.E.'s database?" repeated Finn. "Now I'm not a bad guy, but I know a thing or two about what evildoers don't do. And telling the enemy exactly what they are doing without killing them after is not something we do." It was a warning hint, yet it somehow flew over Chick's and Holley's heads. Grem and Acer heard it and smirked at each other, but stayed quiet.

"Eh, changing things up a bit." said Acer with a shrug. "Hm, the professor will be happy to hear about this."

"Hear about what? What is going on?!" Chick demanded, pulling at his ropes.

"Nothing that concerns you, so shut up." ordered Grem.

"HEY! Nobody tells Chick Hicks to shut up! NOBODY!" the green racecar thundered. The attention of the Lemons was completely on Chick, giving the spies a chance.

Finn pulled his four spread tires in under Holley and shoved them upwards, propelling the purple car off of him. She immediately deployed her assault rifles and shot at the four Lemons, who were already letting their bullets fly. Holley landed with a few orange sparks flying and sped in a circle around the group to distract them. Finn rocked hard on his roof, letting the momentum and his own strength flip him over. He sidestepped a little and blinked a couple of times, having the sudden rush of oil leave his hood and cloud his vision with strange fireworks (Like standing up too fast and getting light headed). He shook his hood and deployed his AK, just in time before Vladimir shot him. Finn shot the Zaporozhets, catching him off guard. He yelped in pain when the bullets popped his tire then broke his right headlight, embedding themselves in his face. Finn drove forward and rammed his front into Vladimir's, pushing the small Russian back and denting him. The other three had gone after Holley, so Finn decided to free Chick while the fourth was distracted.

"It's about time someone got me untied." Chick ungratefully griped as the ropes were pulled off. "Been waitin' here for too long, McMissile."

"Well, you can thank us later. Come on." Before they could get far, though, a group of Lemons stopped them.

"Going somewhere?" one of them, a red Pacer, asked coldly. Every single one had weapons, and with a weaponless car to look after, Finn could not take them on.

"Please tell me you have some spy tricks up your wheel well…" Chick nervously said, backing away.

"Not at the moment…" Finn said just as nervously. Just then, Holley came around a stack of crates with Grem, Acer, and Victor on her tail. She swerved, just narrowly missing a Trunkov on the outside of the group and let Grem ram into him instead. It was then that bullets started flying left and right, trying to hit the three non-Lemons. They were just too quick to be caught, and they took out a few enemies in the process just by bashing them aside.

Holley dodged a missile that was headed straight for her cab and felt a bullet graze her window. She shot a green Pacer a few times, killing him instantly, then felt a sharp pain in her side. Turning around, she saw that a red Gremlin had shot her, and was reloading. Holley turned to shoot him, but a Hugo sideswiped her hard, shoving her sideways. She quickly hid behind a square pillar and started to peek around the corner. The red Gremlin that had shot her was right in her face and rammed her backwards. The Hugo had his gun out and was intent on killing her. Holley drove forward on sore axles, shooting at both. She hit the Hugo but didn't kill him. The Gremlin had reloaded and was raising his gun to shoot. He did, but Holley jumped out of the way. The spy used her taser and shocked the Gremlin, dazing him badly. Holley was still electrocuting the Lemon when the Hugo had gathered his senses and kicked her in the side, very hard. Holley gasped as the pain shot through her and felt something, most likely the Hugo's tire, punch her fender. She felt a gun press against her right window. Just when she thought she was going to die, the sound of shooting rang in her ears. Red oil splattered on her side, and the dead Hugo was thrown forward.

"Holley! Are you hurt badly?" asked a worried Finn. Holley turned to look at him, who was all battered, scraped, had bullet holes here and there, and was leaking red oil from his mouth and various areas.

"Not horribly." breathed Holley. "You look horrible, though."

"And you don't look any better. Come on, we have to get out of here!" The two started off, but Holley felt the Gremlin reach out and grab her back tire. She looked at him with her mirror. He was holding a gun with his other tire and was preparing to shoot her. Holley yanked away from him and blasted him right in the windshield before he could do anything.

"Where's Chick?" Holley asked.

"Trying to escape the way I told him to, which is in the area we came in. He has no weapons, so he can't fight back like us." Finn sped up and knocked aside a Trunkov. Holley was watching him slide across the ground when her eyes landed on the computer, still open.

"Finn! The hacking computer!" she yelled.

"We forgot about that!" Finn said frantically and sped over to it. Before they could make it, however, Grem and Acer got in the way.

"Oh. no. We ain't letting you mess this up." growled Grem. The spies still tried to go around the two, only to get shoved back.

"You can't get to it that easily." Acer hissed. "We aren't that stupid."

"Move or die." Holley threatened, more confident now that the adrenaline rush had kicked in completely.

"Oh, my." Grem mocked. "I'm so scared!" He instantly shot her, but it wasn't a fatal shot. It only dazed her. "Try harder, hon." he added with a smirk. That did not sit well with Finn. He lurched forward, ramming into Grem. Acer instantly hit him, and Holley went after Acer, so it was a small domino-effect of fighting. The two spies fought against the two Lemons, and it seemed like they would come out as the victors. But when the small battle was going the right way, it turned on a dime and went downhill in an instant. The other Lemons who were still alive joined in and - what can only be described as literally just beating the crap out of Finn and Holley - they quickly took down the spies. Holley was certain they were going to die; they were already extremely weak from their earlier beatings. Add in about sixteen cars who are actually stronger than one would think, and that should finish any spy. Holley could feel her axles start to give out as she collapsed, and just before it was over, a loud ding sounded. Everyone went quiet.

"And we are in." Victor said triumphantly, looking at the computer. All the Lemons instantly stopped what they were doing and cheered, beginning to leave. The spies were confused.

"That's it?" Finn questioned, pausing to spit out some red oil. "You're just going to leave us and not kill us? You have every chance to."

"We could, but we have better things to do." Grem said. "Besides, what's the fun of killing you two now before you see what we did to your headquarters? Causing trouble was just a distraction for you two, for _this_." Victor, who was still at the computer, turned it around to show the spies. Finn's and Holley's eyes were glued to the screen. It was utter chaos. The Lemons had infiltrated C.H.R.O.M.E.'s base and were rampaging through it. A few of them were wearing live streaming cameras, so the hell they were unleashing could be seen from different points of views. There was smoke everywhere, and bombs were exploding here and there. Car parts littered the floor, some with paint that Finn and Holley recognized with a sickening realization. It wasn't just Lemons that were causing havoc; other, non-Lemon cars were seemingly having a grand time brutally murdering others. In one camera, the vehicle that was wearing it went to a room with some others and grabbed the nearest C.H.R.O.M.E. worker. Holley shut her eyes as someone she knew was ripped apart right in front of her on a screen. The sound was barely up, but she could hear every cry, every plea for help these defenseless vehicles were screaming. The sickening crash of metal as it is forcefully crushed was the only other sound to hear as Finn's and Holley's fellow spies were taking their last breaths. Finn watched with wide eyes as one of the cars he'd known the longest was taken down by too many and shoved into a blazing fire. His screams could have broken the speakers of the computer if it hadn't been turned down. One of the cameras had fallen off a bad guy, and a good guy was crawling his way to it. His rear axle had been halfway ripped out from under him, and everyone watching, including the Lemons, shuddered as it looked beyond painful. A thick trail of red oil followed the crawling car, and he finally reached the camera.

"HELP! ANYBODY! I know someone is watching this! Where's our best spies?! Finn?! Holley?! Someone PLEASE HELP! We can't take them! We ca-!" And then he was cut off as he was shot in the fender, and a large piece of the ceiling was dropped on top of him and the camera. That video cut to static and Victor shut the computer. Both Finn and Holley were opened mouthed, and speechless.

"Hey, don't feel too bad." Grem spoke up.

"Yeah, it's not like you could have saved them anyway!" Acer taunted. All the Lemons laughed at the spies, then left.

They sat in silence for a moment, but for different reasons. Finn and Holley didn't look at each other but were thinking similar thoughts. Everything they saw was just heartbreaking, and that was all Holley could think about. Bringing her and Finn here was just a distraction, for all that? She wondered what would have happened if they didn't go. Would they have been able to stop it? Would Chick have died at the tires of Grem and Acer? There was no telling.

Next to Holley, Finn was having those same thoughts. But his were slightly different. He too wondered what would have happened if they had not come here. All that violence horrified him, making him angry and heartbroken at the same time. Yet it excited him in a strange way. A voice in his head that had been quiet for a few months, suddenly started talking again, telling him to join them. He answered it in thought.

 _"Join them already…"_

 _"I haven't heard from you in a while…"_

 _"It is time, Finn McMissile…"_

 _"For what?"_

 _"To become one of them…"_

 _"Now? No, not yet… I can't do this to Holley right now, or any of my friends…"_

 _"Forget about everyone you love… It's going to happen soon anyway…"_

It was so tempting to fall prisoner to his insanity, but he wanted to wait.

 _"Give me time to heal and help get C.H.R.O.M.E.'s base repaired… There are some things I need first…"_

 _"I estimate three months…"_

It was Holley touching his fender that brought Finn back to reality.

"Finn? How are we going to get back?" she asked.

"Huh?" Finn blinked. "How are we going to get back?"

"Yeah. We're too weak to go very far, and we're damaged and would draw attention."

"The day that we need him for what he is, Mater is not around. Heh, convenient." Finn started pulling forward, wincing as his bent axles were aching. "We can at least try to make it. It's not that far."

"What do you think would have happened to us if I hadn't mouthed to Chick to get the attention of the Lemons while we were vulnerable?" asked Holley.

"Is that what you did? They possibly wouldn't have killed us, but they might have killed Chick." guessed Finn. "They seemed to care more about keeping us alive than what they would do to him." He started to leave. Holley followed him, and they painfully made their way out of the secret warehouse and to their place of work. Luckily as Finn had said, it wasn't very far.

When they got there, the outside looked normal. It looked abandoned rather than full of chaos. Then they drove up to the doors and as soon as they opened them, a blast of black smoke came out. Finn and Holley coughed and saw exactly what they saw on the computer screen. Black-ringed holes dotted the walls and floor, marking the places where explosions went off. Small fires were alight everywhere, and electrical wires stuck out of the walls and equipment, sparking. Bodies of cars were scattered about, lifeless and almost unrecognizable. Car parts and glass littered the floor, and puddles of car blood shined dark red. The light fixtures above were flickering, and some were swinging by a chain. One of them fell, almost landing on the two spies.

"They… They did so much…" uttered Holley. "Killed so many…" She gazed around the once clean and bright room, now looking dark and like something from a horror movie. The two went opposite ways, checking out everything and seeing if there were any survivors. Holley went down a hall, looking at the scrapes and dark red streaks all around her on the walls. A door was open to a room, and she went in it, finding a small office with a broken mirror on the wall. Her eyes scanned the room first, then she pulled up to the mirror. The image that stared back in it could not have been Holley Shiftwell. Holley almost didn't recognize herself. She had so many deep dents, it was unbelievable that none of them were crushing her insides. Her right window was broken, the glass looking like the web of a schizophrenic spider. Her windshield was cracked in the top left corner, but somehow she didn't feel it. Her right headlight had been busted, and her front axle was bent at an off angle. Deep cuts and long gashes adorned her entire frame, along with many bullet holes. The middle of her hood, which she could see before looking in the mirror, was popped up and bent. She was covered in large scratches and her paint was chipped everywhere, revealing the metal underneath. Red oil leaked everywhere on her body, and when she turned a little, she could see a large splatter of it on her left side. _"The Hugo's blood…"_ she realized with slight disgust. If this was what her front looked like, she didn't even want to see her backside. She sighed audibly and turned to leave.

"Agent Sh-Shiftwell?" said a shaky voice. Holley snapped to attention and turned to the desk. A white 2004 Chevrolet TrailBlazer slowly peeked around the desk with a scared look in his wide green eyes.

"Agent Blaze?" Holley breathed, almost whispering. "You're alive? I thought the Lemons killed everybody..."

"It felt like they nearly did. I don't know how many are dead, but most of us got away." Blaze looked to be in a shocked state, as he was shaking all over. He looked just as bad as Holley. "Is Finn with you?"

"Yes. He and I split up to look for survivors. I wonder if he found anybody?" Holley turned around and Blaze followed her out the door. No one was out in the hall, or the lobby, but the two vehicles could hear voices. It sounded like someone talking to someone else on a radio. Apparently, Finn heard it too because he came out from where he went.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered.

"Yeah, where's it coming from?" asked Holley quietly.

"I cannot tell." Finn's eyes landed on the TrailBlazer. "Agent Blaze! Wonderful seeing you alive."

"I'm lucky to _be_ alive. There were more than just Lemons attacking." Blaze shuddered.

"We saw it all live on cameras the attackers had." Holley told him. "Where we went, there were too many Lemons and they took us down. They forced us to watch live streamed videos from here."

The white Chevy looked horrified at that. "I was able to kill some, but when they started taking advantage of me, I ran and hid." Blaze paused, looking around at the bodies of cars here and there. "We should probably look for where the survivors retreated off to."

"Does this building even have a safe place?" asked Holley, who had been with C.H.R.O.M.E. for a while, but not long enough to know all the headquarter's secrets.

"It's somewhere here, but it's been many, many years since the last time we needed to use it." said Finn. "I think I've forgotten where it's at." They stood in silence as Finn tried to remember where it was. Suddenly, a voice spoke to them.

"You shall find your fellow spies deep underground in a large room. Follow me, if you wish."

"Who said that?" called Holley, looking around. The source of the someone-talking-on-a-radio sound revealed itself. From the darkness of a hallway, a very pretty red 2016 Hyundai Elantra GT emerged.

"Someone you obviously don't know." the Elantra stated. She looked at each one of them. "Man, y'all are a wreck!"

"We know…" said Finn, eyeing her suspiciously. "Might I ask who you are, my dear?" The Elantra smiled in a way that made it seem like not a lot of cars cared to know who she was.

"Rogers. Agent Duchess Rogers, sir." she introduced. "I work alone as a spy."

"Alone? Were you with an organization before?" asked Blaze.

"I was at a fairly small and new one. But I left. Everyone underestimated me, and I was getting sick of it. They never treated me like a real secret agent and always kept me assisting desk agents. Then one time I go out on an actual mission and solve it – with no help whatsoever – they don't believe or credit me at all and tell me to go back to where I'm meant to be: behind a desk. No wait, not even behind a desk. Behind the _vehicle_ behind the desk. My sister told me to leave and go solo, so I did." Duchess seemed pretty proud and confident of herself, so none of the three questioned why she was underestimated.

"Sounds like a horrible organization… Can you take us to where everyone is at?" asked Holley. "You can tell us more about yourself on the way, and maybe help us stop whatever the Lemons are planning."

"I'll gladly do so." Duchess took up the offer. "It's this way, come on." The three followed her deep into the depths of C.H.R.O.M.E., answering and asking questions, and they eventually got to the secret safe room. It required an eye scan of an agent to open the door, and luckily Finn was put into the system long ago. When the door slid open, the enormous room revealed to be full of familiar faces. To see it full was a relief; that meant far more agents had survived than what Finn and Holley had thought.

"Agents Finn McMissile, Holley Shiftwell, and Galba Blaze!" someone yelled. All eyes were on them, and everyone just stared, astounded at how horribly beat up three of them were.

"It's safe to come out now. All the enemies have retreated." Duchess announced.

"Thank you for helping get rid of the Lemons, Duchess. If you hadn't snuck your way in here with your shock grenades and flash bangs, we all would have been found down here." said Royy, a grateful black 1970 Rolls-Royce, the director and leader of the entire C.H.R.O.M.E. organization. Just before he had hidden with the rest, he had seen Duchess sneak in and rampage through the Lemons with weapons he had never seen before. Extremely fast introductions were made between the two, and Duchess ushered Royy down into the safe room. Now, he turned to the spies. "Finn, Holley, there's something I need to tell you…"

"What is it?" pondered Holley, a little afraid to know.

"The Lemons stole something that we have been hiding for decades."

"What did they take?" asked Finn, concerned.

"A book. But not just any book. The book of _Control_ …" Royy said in a dangerously low tone. Finn's eyes went wide, and Holley was confused.

"The book of Control? What is that?" she wondered. Finn and the director looked at her in shock.

"A very old and very powerful piece of literature." Royy began. "And if it falls into the wrong tires, well…" He looked to Finn.

"Let's just say if it falls into the wrong tires, well…to put it as it is: You all are screwed." stated Finn without a hint of remorse in his voice. Everyone around them who knew of the book agreed with the statement. Royy re-announced that it was safe to go back and ordered everyone to seek medical attention and look for any survivors. Apparently, nobody else seemed to notice, but one car did. She stared at Finn's backside for a couple of seconds as they were leaving.

That time, Holley caught his warning.

* * *

 ** _Dang, what a change from Chapter Three. I feel like I did that backwards, making a humorous chapter first then a dark one. Oh well. Didn't say this was a pleasant story..._**

 ** _Don't know what I'll do for chapter 5, but I'll think of something. I promise this story is going to happen!_**

 ** _Reviews are appreciated!_**


	6. Five

**_Hello everybody who is reading my story! I'm back with a new chapter, and I apologize if it's a little short... I started it and then didn't know what to do with it exactly, so I just wrote until I had something that was at least over 4,000 words. Now when I say I 'just wrote until I had something', that doesn't mean this whole chapter is just a hodgepodge of random stuff; it's all still canon to the plot! Even when I don't know what to do, I can still come up with stuff that sounds good. Be thankful for that, my readers. That means I won't be able to give up when I have writer's block!_**

 ** _Britishlover123, Did the 'Thunder' part give it away that Chick was gonna appear in that last chapter? Or do you just have superpowers lol. Yeah, the death scenes were pretty sad; do you think it was too much when I described it? I don't mind, just like hearing what my readers have to say. And I like conversing with them instead of never acknowledging them. What can I say? I like being nice to people who are nice to me!_**

 ** _FeatherSunfire, May I ask why you had been mad at Chick for that week? Well, he's not very nice so that's probably why hahahaha. The only spoiler I will reveal for this entire story is... Yes he made it out alive! He'll be back later, but I don't know when just yet._**

 ** _Now read away, Cars lovers!_**

* * *

 _ **Five**_

"Do you know what stolen?" asked Acer.

"No. Nobody will tell us!" whined Grem. The Lemons were going back to their leader's lair after hacking into C.H.R.O.M.E.'s base and nearly destroying it. They were ordered to do so by a mysterious vehicle, one that only Zündapp had actually met. He had a plan that everyone was skeptical about at first since the last plan about Lemons rising above other models didn't exactly work. But when this particular vehicle threatened to kill every last one of them if they didn't join, the entire Lemon family surrendered themselves to his commands. Especially when most of them got a surprise visit in the penitentiary from him…

 ** _*Flashback to just after the events of Cars 2*_**

It was early in the morning, but two restless inmates were awake. Grem pulled at the chain attaching him to the wall. He and most of the others had been captured in London and thrown in here in the same room, and he envied the ones who got away. The chain that was attached to Grem was really bothering him. It was locked to his rear axle just behind his right tire, and every time he pulled forward too much, it painfully tugged at him in a rather personal way.

"They couldn't have found a better place to put this chain?" he angrily whispered to himself. "Some got away while I have to be stuck here and chained to a wall!"

"We all are." groaned Acer, who was also awake and in the cell next to Grem. "And there's a great chance we won't get out." The Gremlin cut his eyes towards the Pacer.

"And if you keep thinking that way, it won't help us bust outta here." he grumbled.

"So wait, you don't have a plan?"

"Not right now." Grem slowly rolled over to a corner, dragging his noisy chain across the concrete. He faced the wall, settled down, and closed his eyes. He just wanted to be left alone and ignore everybody.

Acer paced back and forth in his cell. He really wanted to get out, and if his partner didn't have a plan yet, this could take a while. Perhaps he could help think of a way? Acer ran every possible escape plan through his mind but couldn't think of anything that would work. It would help if he had a map of the penitentiary, but of course none were on display for the inmates. Looking around the dark room, he couldn't see anywhere that looked easy to escape from. Probably because he couldn't see anything at all, so he turned on his headlights. Across from him was the other side of cells, each one containing a fellow Lemon. A couple pairs of eyes shined in Acer's beams, glaring at him for shining two bright lights on them. He ignored them and searched for some way to get out. Nothing looked easy, but if he could get to the lever that controlled all the doors to the cells, he could free his entire Lemon family who was here. In order to do that, however, he needed either a long pole or someone to go pull it for him. And neither of those options were doable. Acer clicked off his lights and sighed, going to the back of his cell to think. He was examining where his chain was attached to the wall when a metal screech and a streak of light on the floor got his attention.

"Rise and shine, ladies!" a rough voice called out. "That means you too, Lemon." The warden, who looked like a truck, banged his tire against the bars of Grem's cell. The Gremlin opened his eyes and glared to the side.

"Do _not_ call me a Lemon…" he growled, turning to face the warden.

"Suck it up, Lemon. It's your model, you were created that way and you can't change that." The vehicle, who was shrouded in darkness yet they could see he was black and white, turned to address everybody. "Listen up! All you rust-buckets have a surprise visit from someone."

"Who is it?" asked Vladimir gruffly, who was across from Grem.

"None of us know, and he didn't tell us who he was. But he demanded to see every single one of you." barked the warden.

"And you are just going to let someone who refuses to identify himself, in here?" Vladimir backed away from the bars. "Sounds sketchy…" The warden only shrugged his tires.

"Hey, what do I know?" He went quiet, and an unsettling feeling blanketed everyone in the room. "I don't even work here…" A blue-colored hue suddenly appeared on the "warden". It started at his mouth and spread out like a water ripple, going over his entire body. Every car watched in amazement as the truck turned into an entirely different vehicle, his frame flipping like tiny panels as the blue ring passed over him. Still, no one could tell what he was; he had modifications that drastically changed his outer appearance. The fact that he was still solid black in the shadows didn't help either. He looked intimidating, standing with his back end facing the door and the light bending around him as if it didn't want to touch him. "Now that I have your attention, LISTEN UP!" His voice was an atomic bomb, booming and reverberating off the walls and through the chassis of every Lemon in the room. They were all to attention against the bars of their cells, the restrained ones as close as their chains would let them. The mystery vehicle did a small upwards nod, and the dark sun visor he was wearing (but nobody had noticed) went up. Every Lemon gasped silently as he opened his eyes, which were a glowing blood red, and he glared around the room. Grem shrank back as the vehicle's eyes glared at him the longest. "I know exactly why you all are in here. I am fully aware of the Allinol plan that didn't work." He started pulling forward slowly. "Miles Axlerod had the right idea, but the wrong way to carry it out. I understand if you all are unwilling to do this, but your reasons are a thing of the past. I have a way to rise above others and even though I am not one of your kind, I have always had a soft spot for Lemons. If you all would, please help me carry out my plan."

"And what if we don't?" questioned Grem. "We don't even know you, Mystery Guy." The vehicle turned to the Gremlin. Even though he was facing the light now, his face was still a solid black void, save for his glowing windshield and irises.

"You suffer eternally and wish to die but you won't." he simply stated.

"Sure." Grem shrugged off the threat. "Not swayed that easily, but whatever." He was clearly doubting the stranger, and that didn't sit well with him. He held out his tire and something shot out of his rim. It hit Grem's right fender, embedding itself shallowly inside him but deep enough to reach his engine. He yelped in pain and jumped back as shockwaves of throbbing agony pulsed through his engine, threatening to blow it out. He pawed at his fender with his tire and whimpered pitifully as he slammed himself into the wall. There was nothing he could do to get rid of this strange agony. Whatever the object was, it was possessing Grem, making him drive into the walls and yank at his chain. He was practically acting like a wild animal with rabies. It hurt so bad, that only one thing ran through Grem's mind: Make it stop. He couldn't think of anything else, no matter how hard he tried. Then suddenly, the pain went away as fast as it had come. The Gremlin was breathing hard, his vision was trying to refocus and his body trying to regain feeling after the intense pain. Once his vision refocused, he saw all eyes were on him.

"What did you do to him?" asked Acer in fear.

"He was doubting me. First rule in my book. _Never_ doubt me." the stranger answered lowly. There was a small _click_ as his strange gun went back into his wheel rim. "And if you must know, that was my newest weapon I invented. It doesn't have a name yet, but it's a small device that shoots electrical burning pulses throughout the body of a car, causing them great pain. It scrambles their thoughts and makes then only think about stopping the pain. I can call it back with a powerful magnetic force, and it has a nasty little secret, too. If I had left it inside you, it would have exploded and permanently became a part of you. The explosion is very small and only melts the device, and it can never be removed without killing the victim."

"Ok-k-kay, y-you have my atten-tion…" Grem stuttered. He felt a trickle of red oil run down his fender as the hole began to bleed. "Whatev-ver your p-plan is, I w-will follow it…" He struggled to his tires, now pretty terrified of this stranger.

"Good. You will follow me throughout this whole ordeal and submit your loyalty to me completely. Professor Zündapp is already with me on this, and he told me where all you Lemons were locked up."

"When did you meet with the professor?" Victor questioned.

"Not too long after you guys were thrown in the penitentiary. So about a month ago." the vehicle said. "So, how many of you are eager to join me?"

Silence.

"Surely more than this Gremlin here are not wanting a permanent visit from my little device now, right?" The solid black vehicle thought his windows were going to break. One by one, the Lemons all extremely loudly gave up their loyalty and begged to join him, all thinking that this may be a chance to get out of their prison. "Perfect…" the stranger chuckled as the roar of angry Lemons wanting revenge on the world for being cast aside, rose. "Alright! It may take some time, but eventually my plan will require you all. I need to do a few things first." He turned to leave, but Acer stopped him.

"Wait!" The black vehicle turned to face the Pacer. "Eventually? You're just gonna leave us here?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention something very important. If you lot can bust outta here and get Zündapp out too within the next two months, you can see yourselves to my lair. I only take the most intelligent and determined cars as my workers." explained the stranger.

"What?! This is a pretty tight security place. That might take forever!" Acer objected.

"Then I suggest you start now." The vehicle smirked, and Acer could see he had fangs. Unusual, since that was an extremely rare mutation in one of the only two biologically alive parts in cars. Mutations in eye color was the other one, and that was slightly less rare than mouth mutations. Acer began to think this guy wasn't like every other evil geniuses and may have had an actual working plan. "Please try your hardest for me? It would be a shame to let all this evil potential go to waste and decay in this place." He gestured with his tire to all the cells, then turned and rolled out. He turned again outside the door to look at the Lemons inside the room. His eyes glowed a brighter stunning red in the light, yet the rest of his body was still cloaked in blackness. He must have been wearing something that made him unseeable, even in the light. The black stranger raised his tire to press the button to close the door, but before he did, one more question was asked.

"One last thing, sir. We know nothing about you, so at least give us a name. What would you like us to call you?" wondered Vladimir. The dark vehicle thought for a moment.

"For now, you may not know my real name. I will respond to Mystery because, well, I am mysterious to you all, no?" he replied. "And Grem, you called me 'Mystery Guy', so I think that's a very fitting name." Grem snapped to attention.

"H-how do you know my name?" he asked, shocked. Mystery just smirked evilly.

"Oh, all the more reasons to love my new nickname." And with that, the doors closed, locking the Lemons back into darkness. At first, there was silence. Then the quiet murmur spread as everybody began talking about the mysterious stranger.

"Do you really think he talked to the professor?" Acer asked, pulling up to Grem.

"Maybe." Grem pulled up to him as well. "Why else would he waste his time coming here to recruit us?" he said, finally having gotten back to his senses and stopped stuttering.

"We don't have a single clue as to who he is, or what his plan is! All we have is a nickname, and you just single-tiredly signed us all up to be a part of his workforce!"

"Clearly you're not the one who's got a hole in his fender!" Grem jerked his front end to the side, showing the dripping wound. It was fairly large and the bent-in metal around it was irritating Grem. Acer cringed at the sight of it; it sure did look painful and it was bleeding a lot. "It went all the way to my engine, and you would not believe what that kind of pain does to you. Being a Gremlin doesn't help, it just made the pain worse. My engine felt like it was gonna blow out and it probably would have if that thing stayed longer. It practically forced me to submit myself to, oh whoever he was, 'Mystery'." Grem sighed. "I know we know absolutely nothing about him or his plan. But I think that now we're in this mess, the best thing to do is try to make it work."

"And if we can't get outta here and get Zündapp out within two months?"

"Then too bad for us."

Just then, the doors screeched open and a large SUV with a white face and black sides rolled in. He wasn't Mystery, as his eyes weren't glowing red, but he was an actual warden. He was looking at Grem's fender.

"Did you do that to yourself?" he asked in a smoother voice than what Mystery had. Grem looked at him with wide eyes, and started to say no, but got an idea.

"No, I-" He paused. "Yes I did… I hate being here…" he said quietly. The warden narrowed his eyes at the orange car.

"Hm, is that so?" He turned and went out the door. The sounds of radio static and his voice quietly drifted into the room. Acer looked at Grem.

"What are you doing?" he hissed out quietly.

"Gonna get us out. Just pretend to be mentally unstable, and they have to take you out to be tested. Use that time to get away, and together we can free the others." Grem whispered. Acer stared at him in shock.

"Really? That'll work?"

"Yes. Now quickly do something!"

Acer looked around his cell. There was nothing he could harm himself on that he could see. He turned around real fast, and aha! Where a previous inmate had tried to escape, a part of a bar in the back of the cell was cut in a peeling fashion. It was also bent outwards with a very sharp point. Acer didn't even debate on not doing it; he quickly drove up to it and put his left fender to it. The metal poked him sharply, and squeezing his eyes shut, he pushed himself against it and pulled backwards. Tears welled up in his windshield frame as the stinging sensation sliced through his left side. Grem only watched, shocked and wondering how one could willingly do something like that. He shuddered as he could hear the squeak of Acer's metal fender while the bar cut him. Just watching the Pacer made Grem's fender hurt, so he turned away and waited for the warden to come back. This time instead of one, three SUVs came back.

"Alright, Gremlin. You're coming with us." one of them ordered. He slid his tire along a screen on the ground to select which cell to unlock. Then he reached up and pulled the lever to the left and let it snap back to the right. The door to Grem's cell unlocked and opened, and an SUV with a black face came in to get him. He tirecuffed Grem's front and back tires before taking the chain off. The orange car exhaled in relief as the metallic nuisance fell from his sensitive undercarriage. But now his tires were extremely stiff from the cuffs; they were made to restrain cars but allow them to move.

Tirecuffs are not like parking boots. They attach the front tires to the rear ones with a pole. The left tires are attached to each other, and the right ones are likewise. The poles prevent the vehicle from using their tires to attack, whether it be from regular punches or weapons. The ends of the poles have plates that cover the rims of the tires, so weapons cannot be used without hurting the user. The cuffs also prevent the car from turning easily, so while they can still drive at their top speed, they can hardly turn. In order to turn, they have to crawl, so trying to get away while tirecuffed is a horrible idea. The vehicle won't get away and just get in even more trouble for running. If one vehicle knows anything about that, it's Grem. He tried once and it ended badly.

"Where is he going?" asked Acer in a strange voice when Grem was scowling at his cuffs.

"To be checked. He ain't being set free-" The SUV cut himself off when he looked up and saw Acer. "What in the world happened to you?" Grem looked over at his partner and was taken aback at what he saw. The other guards were just as surprised. The Pacer had smeared his blood on his hood and wrote 'They talk to me…' in it on the wall. He had a crazy look in his brown eyes for added effect. "And you might come with him…" The black-faced warden nodded to one of the others, and their radio beeped when he clicked it on.

"We're gonna need two more. Got another unstable one." he said into it. The door to Acer's cell unlocked and the two guards went in slowly. Two more showed up and waited by the doorway to the cell. Tirecuffs were put on Acer and his chain was removed without trouble. Once he and Grem were fully restrained and surrounded, the group headed out the doors.

"Was that too much back there?" Acer whispered to Grem once they were out in the hall.

"No, but you sure went beyond what you had to do." Grem whispered back. The two Lemons were having to jerk their bodies so they could turn corners. Apparently, it was hilarious to the five wardens because they laughed at the Lemons' frustration and extreme effort to turn. Eventually, they came upon a set of white doors with the words 'EXAMINATION ROOM' in big red letters on either door. The guard in front pushed them open and instructed the Lemons to wait in there. It was a fairly empty room, save for a metal examination table in the middle with various surgical-looking instruments on the wall and big light fixtures on the ceiling. Another guard made them back up to a wall, then chained the bars of their tirecuffs to it to ensure they wouldn't do anything.

"The doctor will be here very soon to assess your injuries." said the last warden when the others had left ahead of him. "He had to take care of an attempted murder victim here."

"Attempted murder victim? What car still has weapons?" Grem demanded.

"Some inmates here are crazy. They make weapons out of the metal on their own body. Then they go after whoever they please. This one lived, though." The warden grinned evilly. "The next one may not be so lucky, and you know everybody hates Lemons…" Grem and Acer shot him a death glare, and the warden just left without caring.

"Totally unnecessary." spat Acer. "So, what's the plan now?"

"Still working that out. Just follow my lead, and we can get ourselves outta this mess…"

And in time, they did just that. They were able to free themselves and Zündapp, but it took longer than they would like to admit. Almost every time they freed some of their fellow Lemons, some would get recaptured. And the more they got caught again, the higher the security would be on their cells. It was extremely frustrating and as the set amount of days grew shorter, the more panicky the Lemons got. They were one day away from missing their two-month deadline, to say the least.

 ** _*End of Flashback*_**

"You know, I still can't believe you did that." Grem brought up after he and Acer reminisced the day they met their new leader.

"Did what?"

"Willingly sliced your fender on that bar. I would have just acted like I had problems."

"I could have. But I wasn't thinking about that."

"Maybe you weren't thinking at all." The group was on a train making their way back to Mystery's lair, and Grem and Acer had to separate themselves from the others. They were put in charge of everybody when Zündapp or Mystery weren't around, and everyone kept asking questions Grem and Acer couldn't answer about why they had to hack into C.H.R.O.M.E. and break in. Especially since they knew it was only a distraction for something. Getting Finn and Holley out of the headquarters was just a small distraction for the agency because if they had been at the HQ, they could have stopped the rampage. But, the rampage itself was also a distraction. Without security guarding anything, things could get stolen and that's exactly what happened. Something significant was taken from C.H.R.O.M.E., and no one knew what it was.

Mystery had not told Grem, Acer, or anyone else what the entire plan was. All he said to them was that they had to start out slow, which is why he didn't free the Lemons or Professor Z at first. The only reason he freed the professor was so he could speed something up, but then told Zündapp to get caught right after. Mystery needed time to plan certain things out and make sure it all would work before putting his entire plan into action. The last thing he needed while the plan was barely started was the cops after them for busted-out prisoners. Letting the Lemons bust themselves out was Mystery's way of giving himself more time to get ready and letting them prove they could be reliable. He had only told Zündapp the entire plan, and the professor swore to not tell anyone until Mystery was ready for the others to know. Now that they were all free and everything was going accordingly, the Lemons were sure they would soon hear about this great plot they were a part of.

The rest of the train ride was quiet for Grem and Acer. They could hear some of the others talking up a storm in the car behind them, but they couldn't make out any words. Eventually, they got off the train and drove the rest of the way to their destination. The train they were on was just a random dude they had never met or even seen the face of. He was a very long train, so it was easy to wait until his front got far away enough for the Lemons to jump into three or four train cars without being noticed. Plus, he was going in the direction they were, therefore it only made sense to hitch a ride.

"All went well, I assume?" guessed Mystery once they all arrived at the underground lair and came through the doors into the main room. The main room consisted of long tables in rows for workspaces, all facing the front of the room. At the front was a raised walkway with ramps on both ends, and a big wide hallway in the middle. Down at the end of the wide hallway led to two narrower halls at both sides, each ending with forbidden-to-access doors: One leading to Zündapp's workshop and the other to Mystery's office. The leader himself was at the end of the spacious room, standing on the raised walkway and facing down the wide hall, away from everybody.

"Yes, sir. We successfully infiltrated C.H.R.O.M.E.'s base and caused havoc, as you commanded us." reported Grem.

"Good, good. What we needed from there, we are now in possession of." Mystery turned around; his irises still glowed with the same bloody color from when he first met the Lemons. He was shrouded in blackness like he always is, and still none of the cars had ever seen him except Zündapp. "Now, my Lemons, continue working on parts for my special machine and upgrading weapons to make them stronger."

"When will you tell us what this 'special machine' is?" wondered Acer.

"When it is ready. I promise you all will know within the next five years." A collective murmur rose over all the Lemons, some saying things like 'What?' or 'Five years? I can't wait that long!' and "He's probably lying to us.'. A collective hush fell over everyone when Mystery glared at them all and began to growl. His fangs gleamed as eerily as his eyes. "What did I say about doubting me?" His voice was full of venom, full of power without having to yell. "You ALL know what will happen if you even THINK about leaving…" Nobody else spoke, and they all went back to work immediately.

And that was what they did all the time. Making parts for this machine that only the professor was allowed to see and know about. He was the one building it, actually, and he would make his rounds every day, collecting finished parts. A few Lemons speculated it was a death ray, some thought it was a vehicle enhancing device to make them stronger, while others were sure it was some sort of giant super weapon. Mystery and Zündapp would hear these guesses and only smile, saying nothing about it. One day they all would know, Mystery would tell them, and that day came eventually. But not before big changes and shocking twists happened to the Lemons, just as they happened for C.H.R.O.M.E…

 **...**

"So, this book that was stolen… What's it about?" asked Holley. Clean up had already started in the headquarters, and every spy that had been badly hurt was in the medical wing of C.H.R.O.M.E. That included Finn and Holley, and they were waiting to be fixed. The more damaged vehicles went in first, so Holley had some time to ask just what that book was about.

"The book of _Control_ is a very, very old book." Finn began. "It's about how to bring out the darkness that everyone has inside them. Nobody is safe if the wrong kind of vehicle gets ahold of it."

"Wow, really? You can turn someone evil with it?" Holley asked, bewildered.

"Not necessarily _turn_ , but rather bring them out. It's not forceful, either." Finn corrected.

"Then how does it work if it's not forceful?"

"It's more like bribery. By reading _Control_ , you learn how to use the right words that pull the darkness out into consideration. You just talk to someone the way the book tells you to, and it makes them highly consider turning bad. There's almost no chance they won't snap. In fact, every use of Control has been recorded inside the book, and there are thousands and thousands of successful records in it. Only one resisted and didn't defect, but they actually did and it ended up being eight years later. I couldn't tell you who it was, though, because that was a mission I didn't go on and the _Control_ victim was killed."

"Wow." Holley was stunned. "I thought stuff like that existed in fairytales. Is this something we can stop?"

"Heh, this is no fairytale and not this one, sweetheart. You can only wish and hope. If we can get the book, then we would have a start. But considering the clan of Lemons has suddenly gotten smarter and caught us off guard, I think this won't be easy. Especially since our headquarters had to be saved by some random agent who ran away from her agency." sighed Finn.

"Oh, then this won't be very easy…" Holley sighed as well. "But do you think Duchess would help us again?"

"Probably. She's still here somewhere, and talking to the director, so she might." Finn looked around at all the hurt vehicles. A majority of them were badly injured, but at least not a whole lot of lives were lost. "But we will need more than just everyone we have here. We would never make it very far without more help, so we shouldn't jump into this too fast. And it would be a shame to have cars on our side get bribed to turn evil." Finn looked over to Holley and did a small warm smile when she wasn't looking. "Besides, I'm still letting you choose your own path and not losing you again…" he said real quietly.

"What?"

"What?"

* * *

 ** _Gah! I feel bad for uploading a shorter chapter, but I tried to make it as interesting as possible! It's just that there wasn't much to do for this one; which is why it had that flashback to fill in all that empty space. This one was mainly the aftermath of the last chapter, so...yeah. Couldn't make it that intense with the main characters hurt. The next one will be better because I know what to do, I just need to figure out how to do it, so it may take a bit longer to upload it. Also I'm using my school laptop to write and upload, and I'm losing it the last day of school which is Monday. So if you're reading this past May 22, 2017, I don't have it anymore! I still have Google Docs on my phone and I have access to my family computer, so uploading will continue regularly! (maybe; if I can come up with stuff)_**

 ** _Okay, I won't lie... The reason it took me longer than I would have liked to upload this shorter chapter is because I have been working on something else... It's a side story, also known as the bonus chapter at the very end of The Way They Seem! So it's relevant to my story and I'm almost done with it. I'm gonna tell you right now, you will either love it or hate it, but I'm putting it in anyway. And because it's also mildly important to a huge detail, and because I felt like it lol._**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope you'll stick around for more! Review, Fave/Follow, tell your friends about it, wonder/guess what's going to happen next, do whatever you feel like doing; I don't mind at all! Chapter Six up (hopefully) before long!_**


	7. Six

**_Do read my Author's Notes, if you're reading this!_**

 ** _justuslogan225, Okay, here it is! Here it is! For you, here is Chapter 6! And thank you once again for faving me and my story!_**

 ** _Britishlover123, Short stories can be amazing, but I like my tales to be long. And Finn's evil side will come out shortly; I like to build up to things like that :)_**

 ** _Flame, Chick's backstory has been revealed?! I've never heard of it. Wonder what it is... And there's plenty of surprises waiting you all in this story!_**

 ** _And liyah loves ninjago, Thank you for the follow and fave! Also, I like your username; Ninjago is my all-time most favorite TV show ever!_**

 ** _Well, that took some time to upload! I had to write about ten characters in this one, and translate five languages! Plus, I have been on vacation at the Grand Canyon, and it was very awesome! Especially since we traveled on Route 66 very little, and I made my parents stop at Jackrabbit Trading Post. Yes, THE Jackrabbit Trading post. The one that was the inspiration for the sign and Lizzie's Curios Shop in the movie Cars! And yes, I bought a bumper sticker there too, lol. That was one of the best highlights of my trip. Okay, enough of me rambling off._**

 ** _For the foreign languages in this one, you can use Google Translate. I worked it out enough to where you should get the exact translations. Also, I apologize for any grammatical errors I missed. All my computers have been super slow, and the length of this chapter made it harder for me to spot them myself._**

 ** _For some reason, FFN would not let me use asterisks to separate the racers. Is that a bug, or am I doing something wrong? It lets me put them in it, but when I hit save, the asterisks are gone! I had to use horizontal lines instead._**

 ** _And now I give you a present: An about 10,331-word-long chapter! More than double the length of the last one! You're welcome._**

* * *

 **Six**

The sun shined brightly, reflecting his yellow paint into his eyes. He ignored it, keeping his eyes on the beast before him. The bulldozer snorted, maintaining eye contact with the racecar. Miguel Camino turned to the side, driving forward slowly while the bulldozer did the same. They were encircling each other, something Miguel liked to do before angering the beast with the swipe of a red cloth. His lustrous, dazzling green eyes burst with a playful shimmer as he raised what he was hiding beside him: A bright red cape. The bulldozer saw it and gave an angering noise of disapproval, charging at the daring car. Miguel let him get close before darting off to the side, leading the bulldozer along the fence. The mechanical arm that was attached to under his rear bumper held the red cape high in the air. Miguel swung it tauntingly back and forth; one of his ways to really get the yellow beasts railed up.

"¡Liberar otro!" he commanded, and another bulldozer accompanied the first. They chased the beautiful racecar around the large pen, splitting up at one point. Both dozers were on opposite sides of Miguel, and all three were still. Slowly, the bulldozers circled him, stopping in front and behind him, snorting and snarling. The racer was unfazed and rolled his eyes in a bored fashion. He looked over to the fence, where he noticed a very pretty red Hyundai Elantra GT watching him with her dark brown eyes. She shyly waved a tire at him and Miguel raised up a little, winking at her. The Spaniard held the cloth in front of him, covering his face entirely. He moved it to the side, revealing his left eye looking lustfully at the bulldozer. This was his other way to get them angered, and he swung the cloth in a flirtatious way for added effect. The dozer could not stand Miguel's mock seduction and charged forward. The Elantra's eyes widened slightly when the beast got within ten feet of the racer playing matador. Miguel reversed turning left, and the bulldozer could not make the sharp turn. It ran into the one that was behind the racer and knocked it over. Miguel sped past the one that was still up, and it angrily turned and charged again at him. He turned sharply, holding the cloth out and letting it kiss the bulldozer as he drove past. The flash of red that touched it made the dozer see red, and it turned to see Miguel by the other dozer. It was on its right side, and the racecar was gracefully sidestepping around it. He got behind it and slid his tire along its horn, chuckling at the downed, enraged beast. He looked up and smirked at the other bulldozer, batting his eyes and holding the cape in front of the downed dozer. That just enraged both of them, and Miguel let the mobile one get close before darting off again. He led the angry bulldozer around the pen, brushing the cape against it every time he went past it. Finally, after he got it as mad as he could, Miguel went in front of the downed bulldozer once more. The other one stared at him from the other side of the pen, completely livid. It clearly did not want to charge again and miss the racer, so Miguel did one last thing. He turned around completely and, well, stuck his bumper in the air, shaking it slightly.

One can just guess that shaking their butt at a bulldozer is the fastest way to get killed. That's not what happened, though, but it sure did make the beast so mad, that Miguel saw its eyes were tinted red. He watched his rearview mirror and let it get close, then jumped out of the way just in time. It crashed into the other one at full speed, flipping itself right over it. Now there were two bulldozers on their sides. Miguel proudly stood tall and held out his red cloth. "¡Olé!" he called out, and the crowd that was watching cheered. He went over to the entrance of the pen where a forklift took the arm off of him. As he rolled out, he searched the small crowd for the Elantra.

"Muy impresionante, Señor Camino." said a voice behind him. "But you Spaniard racecars are always so exciting to watch."

"Ah, so you think?" Miguel responded. He turned to see the Elantra behind him. "I have never seen you before, señorita. You sound like a southern American, so you are not from Spain, are you?"

"Never been here before, actually. And I sound American because I am from America." she confirmed with a laugh. "Name's Duchess, and I was just touring Spain and decided to stop by where the famous racer Miguel Camino was at. Didn't know you were also a matador."

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Duchess. I am not a professional matador, I just enjoy playing one sometimes. Racing is what I do, but I am sure you knew that." corrected Miguel. Then he realized something. "Espera un minuto… I have never met you before, and this is private property that only family and close friends can visit. How did you get here without security or anybody noticing?" Duchess just smiled secretively.

"Cars like me don't reveal those kinds of secrets." she casually responded. Miguel was about to ask when his crew chief hollered at him.

"¡Miguel! ¡Tengo un mensaje urgente para usted!" Petro Cartalina called.

"¿Eh?" Miguel turned towards him.

"Es algo de proveniente un lugar llamado C.H.R.O.M.E." Petro said when his racer pulled up to him.

"¿C.H.R.O.M.E.?" Miguel repeated. Why did that name sound so familiar to him? It only took him a second to remember the racing simulations. "¿Desde un lugar llamado-" Miguel cut himself off when he noticed a couple cars seemed interested in what he was talking about. He switched to English. "From a place called C.H.R.O.M.E.?"

"Sí. They need you for some reason."

"Why does that organization need me?" Miguel pondered out loud. Petro shrugged his tires.

"I do not know. I was informed by a red vehicle." he answered. Miguel turned around to see if Duchess was still behind him. She was not. He turned back to Petro.

"Nothing else? Just that C.H.R.O.M.E. needs me?" he asked.

"Well, she did say you know more than regular civilians about spy things." Petro recalled. "Honestly, it sounds pretty ridiculous to me. I think she was mistaken. Secret spy stuff. Heh, you are no spy. Just Spain's greatest racer and most renowned, admired, and captivating car." Petro looked proudly at Miguel, and the yellow racer looked at the ground, scuffing a tire on it.

"Heh, if you say so." he said, smiling. He looked up again. "And yeah, spy stuff. Totally got the wrong car. No idea what any of that is about."

"I have no idea either. But I know you are no spy." Petro said confidently.

Miguel couldn't help but chuckle at the fact Petro really had no idea; the Spaniard told nobody about it when Mater invited him and the others to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s training headquarters.

"Yeah, I am not…" he "confirmed". "But just out of curiosity, was there anything else this red car told you?"

"No, just that a place called C.H.R.O.M.E. needed you, and nobody was to know. It was a female Hyundai who told me." Petro told him. Miguel nodded and looked past his crew chief. His emerald eyes scanned the landscape and caught the red glint of an Elantra heading for a jet farther away. "By the name of Duchess, if that means anything." Petro added.

 **...**

"I cannot help it… _Sono straordinario_!" Francesco called to the crowd. It was a small competition, and small by Francesco's standards. It was a race with other Formula One cars that Porto Corsa held every year, just for fun. It wasn't a grand event or that big of a deal, but quite a few cars came from all over Italy to watch those fascinating open-wheeled speedsters. Ever since Francesco Bernoulli decided to partake in the event, more and more cars had been coming to race and watch every year. For the past five years, that is, and Francesco had a winning streak of all five. Because of that, competition was extremely high to beat the champion of Italy, so the small race had become a bigger deal every year. And the next year it would be an even bigger deal; this sixth year was just another win for Bernoulli. "Everybody loves-a Francesco." he confidently told himself in English. As he was making his way back to his pit, Giuseppe Motorosi was looking questioningly at his racer.

"Francesco! Vieni qui un momento, per favore." he called. The Formula One champion rolled over to his crew chief.

"Sì, cos'è?" he asked. Giuseppe looked around cautiously before leading Francesco away from everyone. The racer took that as a sign to be a little worried.

"Ho un messaggio strano per te." he said quietly. "Sembrava essere molto segreto."

"Che cosa era esso?" Francesco asked, now very curious. As if to make it more alarming, Giuseppe started speaking in English.

"It was a message from a red car about needing you somewhere. A place called Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage. What could that possibly be about?" he said.

"C.H.R.O.M.E…" Francesco whispered under his breath. Certainly, if that place was calling on secret business, this didn't mean playing in simulations. A flash of worry went through his chassis. He looked back up to his crew chief. "Francesco has-a no idea what you are talking about."

"Are you sure?" Giuseppe asked. "This car was very specific in needing only Francesco Bernoulli, and she sounded quite rushed. Like you are needed at this place immediately."

"Still, does-a Francesco look like he knows what you are talking about?" the racer asked in a bored, uninterested tone. Giuseppe's eyes searched Francesco's brown ones.

"I guess not." he said after a moment. "It just sounded very interesting."

"Sì, it does." Francesco reversed and started leaving. "I'm-a going to have to leave, Giuseppe."

"Where are you going?"

"Francesco is-a needed elsewhere, now. Say goodbye to everybody for me, per favore." Before his crew chief could ask anything else, the Formula One racer took off, quickly finding his mother.

 **(A/N: I'm trying to keep this story canon language-wise, but there was no way I was gonna translate this whole conversation. Just pretend it's in Italian.)**

"(Mamma! I am going to visit some friends in another country.)" Francesco said when he caught up to his mother, who had just gotten away from the crowd.

"Oh? (Right now?)" Mama Bernoulli asked, a little surprised.

"Sì. (I told them I'd leave after my victory from this race.)" Francesco lied.

"(Which friends are you going to see, dear?)"

"Um, Lewis Hamilton e Nigel Gearsley." Francesco's mother thought for a moment.

"Oh, sì. (I remember them. You're going to England?)" she asked.

"Sì, (but do not tell anyone. I don't feel like having fans following me for this trip.)"

"(Okay, I will not say anything.)" Mama Bernoulli kissed her son's cheek. "(Have fun with your visit, dear.)"

"(Thank you, mamma. I will have fun.)" Francesco assured, waving a tire as he started driving off. "Trust me, Francesco will have fun…" he added, just knowing C.H.R.O.M.E. was recruiting for a mission. Off in the distance, he saw a familiar spy jet and a new red vehicle waiting in front of him. Francesco sped up and headed for them before anyone noticed him.

 **...**

He was having a pretty good dream about racing on the winding roads of the Black Forest. The turns seemed sharper since it was a dream, but he was able to turn each corner gracefully. The deeper he went into the forest, the more he thought of the Waldgeister Monster. An old legend of a scary monster who lives in the Black Forest and terrorizes those who go in. There were many stories of bored cars looking for adventure and racers who thought they were brave going into the forest. Some were never seen again, and others came out telling of a huge metal beast that ripped up everything he could catch. He loved to go after fast cars the most, but Max Schnell was not afraid. The other racers had given up long ago from fear of running into the beast, but he did not. He rounded another sharp turn, feeling lighter than air as he drifted, and stopped dead in his tracks. There, in front of the German racer, was a looming black shadow.

Resembling a John Deere 4720 sprayer, the beast stood on his four enormously tall 380/90R46 tires, leaning forward. His ghostly pale grey paint seemed to absorb all the moonlight the moon dared to shine down upon him. Dark splatters dotted the monster all over his frame, marking countless lives he has taken. His eyes glowed eerily red as he stared Max down. Two long sprayer arms unfolded from his sides, each ending in razor-sharp claws thirty-nine inches long. The entire width of his sprayers measured to ninety meters long, giving him incredible reaching range. Finally, he opened his mouth, showing two rows of oil-stained fangs and leaned forward with a metal squeak. He growled deeply with a sound that rumbled through the thick trunks of every tree in the forest. The racer only stood still, planting all four tires on the ground. The monster did the same, preparing itself to attack. They both charged at each other, and to Max, it was a moment of becoming. Becoming the first vehicle ever to face the Waldgeister Monster. He clashed with the beast, hearing the metal crush and feeling a surge of adrenaline course through him. The car tackled the monster several times, each time the metallic beast getting smaller as parts of it flew off. They both latched onto each other and rolled down a hill, hitting trees and rocks. When they reached the bottom, the monster was badly banged up and lying on his side, but Max stood tall. He slowly limp-rolled over to the beast and looked him right in the eye. One final hit to the face, and he would be done for. Max raised his right tire and gathered the last of his strength to slam down on the monster's cab. The loud knock at his door woke him up, though.

"Was war dass?" Max mumbled. He lifted his front a little, then rested it back on the pillow. It was too early in the morning to be disturbed, the racer thought. But the knocking sounded again, and this time Max raised up. His dark purple eyelids parted, revealing his blue eyes. He stretched, and the knocking banged on his door once more. "Ich komme, ich komme!" Max called out as he rolled off his car bed and to the door. Yawning and almost running into it, he slid the door open to see his crew chief. "Otto? Was machst du hier?"

"Ich frage mich dasselbe." Otto Bonn responded. He lowered his voice. "Es tut mir leid nach stören dich beim dies zeit, aber ich haben ein Geheimnis Nachricht für dich."

"Geheimnis?" Max repeated, pulling his crew chief into his house. "Vhat vas it about?" he questioned in English.

"I am not sure. It vas over the phone, und the car on the other end told me that you have to go somevhere." explained Otto. "Somevhere in London, England. It sounded sketchy, but your name vas asked for. The caller sounded either urgent or frustrated, but I could not tell." Max only blinked, confused and surprised.

"That vas it? I do not know any place in England that I vould have to go to." Max replied, turning around to look out the window of his house. It was still dark outside, and that just reminded the German racecar he was still tired.

"Does a name like C.H.R.O.M.E. ring a bell?" Max's eyes shot open all the way; he was completely awake now.

"C.H.R.O.M.E.?" he repeated. Of course that name rang a bell. It was that agency who discovered who was sabotaging the World Grand Prix. Well, that tow truck did, at least. But he was with those two agents who worked for C.H.R.O.M.E. Max remembered being invited to the agency's HQ by that tow truck and messing around in simulations. Of course he knew that name. "No, it does not. I have never heard of a place called C.H.R.O.M.E. before."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Otto bit back the urge to make a joke and didn't stay to ask more questions. As soon as he left, Max was out of there. And it didn't take him long to find Duchess and Siddeley.

"Are you Max Schnell?" Duchess asked when the racecar saw her. She was hiding near Max's house, and almost didn't see him since he was carbon fiber dark purple.

"That vould be me." he affirmed. "Did you inform my crew chief of C.H.R.O.M.E. needing me?"

"Yes. Trouble is going to be happening soon, and we need help." Duchess told him. "I understand that all the World Grand Prix Racers have had some experience in the training simulations?"

"Almost. Lewis Hamilton und Rip Clutchgoneski vere unable to join." Max paused. "Who are you?"

"My name is Duchess and I am here to take you to C.H.R.O.M.E. This way to the jet, if you will." Max followed her without another word.

 **...**

"To America next?" Siddeley asked.

"Yep. To my home country." sighed Duchess. Recruiting all these racers was taking a while, and there were still six more to get. "Why did they send, of all cars, _me_ to go get ten cars I have never met before in my life?" the Elantra grumbled to herself. Duchess was unhurt and already a spy, plus she was really the only one who C.H.R.O.M.E. could trust to get the racers. Still, it would have been nice to have someone who knew these guys personally, to help. She sighed again and looked out Siddeley's window.

"You do not sound very happy." Miguel noticed.

"You should be elated. It is an honor to meet Francesco." the said Italian announced. Duchess just looked at Francesco and rolled her eyes, trying to be uninterested. It was pretty exciting to meet all these famous racers. But she had to keep business first, no matter how much they flirted with her. And no matter how attractive they were. They sure were pretty. Pretty handsome, and it was pretty hard not to look at them like she had interest. But Duchess was doing good so far.

 _"I don't even know them personally… But they do have beautiful paint jobs, and they are gorgeous… Wait, no no no what am I thinking? Business first, Duchess… Business first…"_ she thought. _"I am a strong, independent woman… I'm not gonna let myself be distracted…"_

"-needed for, exactly?"

"Huh?" Duchess was thinking and not paying attention to the others, getting ripped from her thoughts.

"I said do you know what we are needed for, exactly?" Miguel asked again.

"Somewhat, but I'll let the guys at C.H.R.O.M.E. tell you about that." Duchess didn't want to tell them something that was going to be repeated later.

"Vhy can you not tell us? Surely you know vhat it is." prodded Max.

"I do. But I'll let the folks at the agency tell you what this is about."

"Francesco does-a not like this." said (guess who?). "He wants the details now. You dragged me away from my home, so this better be good."

"Oh, trust me, it will be adventurous." was all Duchess said before she pressed a button and a privacy shade came down between her and her new friends.

"Hey, come back and tell us!"

"Please? Francesco never begs, but he might now!"

"Duchess, vas it? Yes, Miss Duchess please tell us!"

The Elantra giggled at them. "Nope. Gotta wait." she taunted.

Luckily, Siddeley was fast and they arrived in London in no time. Once the racers were dropped off at the damaged C.H.R.O.M.E. HQ, the spy jet and car left for America. They found John Lassetire pretty fast and waited for him to tell Jeff Gorvette…

"They want me for what?" Jeff questioned once John told him.

"I really have no idea." The racer's crew chief shrugged. "Some red female Elantra told me all this. I have absolutely no idea of what all this is about."

"Then why should I go if you have no idea what it's about?"

"Maybe they got the wrong guy. I don't know." John guessed. "I was just told to tell you some secret organization wants you to help with something." Jeff looked puzzled.

"Hm, interesting." He dwelled on it, turning to the side. "Was the name of this so-called secret organization given?" John thought for a moment.

"Um, I can't remember." he said. "It was something that ended with 'ome'. Rome? No, no. Home? No, that's not it either. Gnome? Bah! I can't remember. It rhymed with those words, though." Lassetire tapped his front tire on the ground. "Maybe it was chr-"

"C.H.R.O.M.E.?" Jeff said suddenly, cutting John off. The yellow truck just looked at the Corvette with half his windshield frame raised.

"Yeah, that was it! How did you know?" he questioned.

"Uh, I didn't. You started saying 'chrome', so I finished the word for you." lied Jeff, hoping he didn't sound suspicious.

"Right. Well, that was the name of that organization. Sound familiar?" John wondered.

"Not at all, John. Not at all." the yellow Corvette lied again. He started driving off. "I'm gonna go do a few laps around my personal track. I'll probably be gone if you need me."

"Okay. I'll see you later, then." John drove off, and as soon as he was out of sight, Jeff went to his personal track. He did about ten laps before stopping in front of an Elantra who had somehow snuck in and was on his track, in his way. He was expecting her, so he stopped just in time.

"I have to give you racers credit." Duchess said when she was looking at Jeff's Corvette emblem, the racer just five feet in front of her. "Y'all have had the practice to drive with such grace and know exactly when to stop. I almost thought you were gonna hit me."

"I would never hit a lady." Jeff promised. "And you could say I was expecting you, so of course I knew I had to stop."

"If you say so, Jeff Gorvette."

"And you are…?"

"Agent Duchess Rogers. I suppose you know where you're going?"

"C.H.R.O.M.E. I wouldn't miss it for the world, Agent Rogers."

"Then let's go, shall we? Siddeley is waiting."

"That super cool spy jet? Sweet!"

 **...**

Traveling to Warwickshire, England took some time as did the other trips, but Duchess didn't mind. She enjoyed hearing stories of racing and other whatnot from the racers. She didn't put the privacy shade between herself and Jeff this time, but she was able to keep herself from staring too much. Jeff told her all about the World Grand Prix races, and how the Lemons used electromagnetic pulse guns to blow up the engines of cars using Allinol. Duchess was happy somebody had finally told her the whole story. She had only heard bits of the WGP incident since nobody could take the time to sit down and tell her. Everyone was too busy at C.H.R.O.M.E. - repairing it and themselves - to do story time. Now she finally understood what these Lemons had done, and why she was gathering these racers. Though she was only gathering them because eight of them already had training experience, and C.H.R.O.M.E. needed all the help it could get.

After a while, Siddeley landed in Warwickshire. Duchess left Jeff with Sidd, and began her search for Austin Littleton, Nigel Gearsley's crew chief. She found Nigel's house, but the large gate in front prevented her from getting near. She could have easily snuck in using her spy equipment and almost did, but decided not to. The risk of getting caught made her change her mind. Instead, she just poked around until someone came out of the house. Duchess pretended to be casually driving around, keeping an eye on the front door. After no one came out for about fifteen minutes, Duchess saw an excellent hiding place to stay and snoop from. Hiding in the bushes across the street, she used her spy gear to scan the house and discovered there were a few cars inside. A small lens popped up in front of her windshield, and she looked through it. Like thermal imaging, the whole house became a blue outline and there were about ten or more red, orange, and yellow shapes in it. Those were cars, and Duchess could not tell who was who.

"I wonder what the security here would do if they knew about this." she whispered to herself. "Does this even count as an invasion of privacy?" She zoomed in with the lens and watched a car turn to the side. It was his spoiler that gave him away. "There you are, Nigel. Now, where's your chief?" Duchess watched as a small car drove up to Nigel and said something. By their movements, it must have been funny because it looked like they were laughing. The small car and Nigel waved at each other, and the small car headed for the door. It opened, and Duchess put her thermal detecting lens away. From where she was, she could tell he was definitely Nigel's chief. By now, she had gotten pretty good at being able to tell which vehicles the crew chiefs were. It was easier than one would think, unless it's dark outside. Darkness tends to hide the paint jobs, which are the same color as the racer's.

Duchess made her way over to the front gate and waited until Austin opened it. He saw her when he closed it.

"Hello, ma'am." he greeted. "Can I help you with something? You look lost."

"Well, I'm not exactly lost, but I could use some help." Duchess started off.

"I'll be glad to help." Austin offered.

"Great!" Duchess looked around, then got closer to him and lowered her voice. "I need you to tell Nigel Gearsley something." Austin looked at her strangely.

"My racer?" he said, surprised. "Is this some sort of fan message?"

"Not at all. If it was, I would already be in the house and talking to him." Duchess deadpanned. Austin began to say something, but she cut him off. "All I need you to tell him is that C.H.R.O.M.E. is looking for recruits. Something big is happening, and the spy agency is requesting Nigel again."

"What in the world? Spy agency? Something big? Recruiting? _Again_?" Austin repeated, taken aback. "What's going on? Who are you?"

"My name is Duchess. Now please, I know it sounds crazy, but tell Nigel." Duchess pleaded.

"Are you sure it's Gearsley you're looking for? I hope you know he's a racer, not a spy." Duchess didn't want to stay and beg.

"Yes, I know. But please, tell him anyway. Even if he's the wrong car, it doesn't matter. Now go inform him."

Austin looked with doubt at Duchess but went back to the house anyway. Of course, Nigel was ready to go when he was told.

"A spy agency is recruiting for something big?" Nigel repeated with interest.

"Apparently so. I say, she got the wrong car." Austin doubted the situation.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Listen, I have somewhere to be right now." said Austin as he turned to leave again. "Goodbye again, Nigel."

"Cheerio, Austin." Nigel bid. He quickly drove out a side door once his chief was out the front.

"Psst! Nigel! Over here!" hissed someone from the bushes.

"Who said that?" Nigel questioned, his eyes darting towards the greenery.

"Me." announced Duchess as she came out from behind another bush. "I'm Duchess, and I'm here to take you to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s base in London."

 **...**

"Why is it so difficult to get these guys to tell their racers?" Duchess said to no one after she told Mach Matsuo. Shu Todoroki's crew chief thought Duchess was out of her mind.

 _"Secret organization? Ha! That sounds like a made-up tale!" Mach had laughed about it._

 _"Please tell Shu about it." Duchess begged after._

 _"Why should I? Surely this is a joke."_

 _"At least mention it to him. I promise it's not a joke."_

Mach had to give it some thought, but eventually, he did tell the Japanese racer. He found Shu racing around at the base of Mount Asama.

 **(A/N: Because we all know how reliable Google Translate is, I did not translate the Japanese speaking parts)**

"Shu!" he called when Todoroki slowed down for a quick rest. "(I think I need to tell you something!)"

"(You _think_ you need to tell me something?)" Shu repeated, slightly amused at the wording. Mach drove over to him.

"(Yes. It was ridiculous-sounding, but the car who told me begged me to tell you.)" Mach told Shu everything, leaving the red and white racer expressionless.

"Hm." was all Shu said.

"Is it something serious?" wondered Mach in English.

"Perhaps." Shu looked his crew chief in the eye. "I must go for now. My practice session is over for the moment."

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere that you know not of." Shu turned and drove away. "Somewhere that sounds like it is in need of my help." he whispered to himself.

"What was that?" Mach questioned, startling Shu. Apparently, he had heard that.

"Um, nothing." Shu said quickly.

"I heard that. You said somewhere that sounds like it needs your help." Mach raised half his windshield frame. "Is there something you are failing to tell me, Shu Todoroki?" The red and white racer was quick to lie.

"No." he lied with a serious face. Then he smiled. "I was just messing with you, to see if you would have heard me." Mach returned the grin and shook his hood a little. He may not seem like it, but Shu does have a sense of humor. He doesn't let it show that often, but when he does, it's usually in situations like these.

"You had me in belief of you hiding something." Mach shot jokingly, much to Shu's relief. "Go on, to whatever it is you must attend."

"I shall be off, then." Before Mach could ask where Shu was going, he had already taken off. Mach did, however, see Duchess one last time with Shu behind her a few minutes later. Curious, he started to follow them.

"It appears my crew chief is curious of my whereabouts." Shu announced when he glanced at his mirror and saw a familiar 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z following in the distance.

"Looks like we do have company." Duchess noticed him too. "How do we lose him? You know the streets around here better than I do."

"Tell me where Siddeley is and follow me." Shu got in front of Duchess, and the Elantra stayed close to him as they went onto the roads.

"Sidd should be just outside the Tokyo International Airport." said Duchess. "I took a transit bus here from Tokyo to Nagano to here, so we need to go to the station."

"Alright. Stay close, and when we reach the busy streets Tokyo, do not let anyone push their way in front of you as we head to the airport." Shu instructed. "We must lose Mach, so speed up!" The two hit the gas and made their way down roads rather quickly until they lost #7's crew chief. Soon after, they boarded a transit bus at the Komoro Station and headed to Nagano, and from there to Tokyo. Upon arriving after a few hours of nothing but riding the bus, they drove on the bustling streets of the Japanese city. A few cars tried pushing their way in front of Duchess, but she easily shoved them back and kept her eyes on Shu. She knew zero Japanese and didn't feel like getting lost in Tokyo. Luckily, Shu kept himself pretty invisible somehow and led Duchess down alleyways so he wouldn't be noticed by fans and they could get through faster. They stayed out of sight and drove fast down the alleys, through a parking garage, slowed down and sneaked around the cops at the Donut House, and finally reached the airport.

"Well, that did not take too long." Shu jokingly said when he noticed Duchess looked tired of driving so much. "Now, where might Siddeley be?"

"Right here, mate." said a familiar voice behind them. "Now let's get out of here before your crew chief figures out where you two went."

 **...**

Lewis Hamilton wasn't busy at all, for once. Good thing too, because when he got word of the whole 'C.H.R.O.M.E. needs you' thing, he could finally go. But he couldn't remember the organization at first.

"Okay, say that one more time." Lewis requested when his crew chief told him.

"A secret organization called Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage is inviting all the racers from the World Grand Prix to team up and fight against these cars called 'Lemons'." Bruce Boxmann reworded it for the third time. "That's what I was told to tell you. Very crazy sounding, but since you've done your one-hundred laps and two hours of chicane, I don't really care what you do now." Lewis looked doubtfully at Bruce.

"Yeah I'm not buying it." he snorted. "A command HQ for motorized espionage? Sounds ridiculous, man."

"It does. But I was told your Grand Prix friends have gone to this place before. That sounds a little suspicious. You sure you're not going to check it out?" Bruce looked suspiciously at his racer.

"I'm sure." Lewis paused. "Command Headquarters and what else was there again?"

"Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage. Long name they have. An acronym would serve then well." suggested Bruce.

"Hm. Command…" Lewis went silent, mouthing the whole name and putting together the first letters. "C.H.R.O.M.E. would be the acronym."

"I think C-H-F-R-O-A-M-E would be it, but that's including 'for' and 'and'. C.H.R.O.M.E. sounds better anyway." Bruce said.

"Of course it does. You don't include words like those in acronyms." Lewis shook his hood slightly. "Was that all?"

"That's all I was told to tell you."

"Weird. If that's all you had to tell me, then I'll see you later, man."

"Where are you going?"

"Just for a casual drive around town. Like you said, I've already done my morning things, so I'm free to go." Lewis bid Boxmann goodbye and started off. "C.H.F.R.O.A.M.E. Heh, that sounds funny. Just like C.H.R.O.M.E. being a thing." Lewis told himself. He went about fifteen yards before it hit him. "Ohhhhhh yeaaaaaah. _That_ C.H.R.O.M.E…" Being busy (and having a strict crew chief) had prevented him from joining the others when Mater invited them a while back. But now he finally had the chance, and was surprised Bruce was going to let him go this time. Even if he had no idea Lewis was actually going now.

He drove on the outskirts of town, and Duchess found him shortly after.

"You know, if I had known you were also from Great Britain, I would have gone for you after Nigel Gearsley." was the first thing Duchess told Lewis after she introduced herself.

"Really, now?" Lewis said, amused. "You mean you knew who I was, but didn't know I was a Brit?"

"Kinda. Yeah, pretty much." Duchess admitted, leading Lewis into Siddeley so they could go. "I've only heard your name and seen a picture of you for about three seconds."

"Wow. C.H.R.O.M.E. isn't very good at giving information, are they?" Lewis joked.

"I actually don't know." said Duchess, smiling in agreement. "I don't work for them, but I am helping them out by recruiting and fighting alongside them."

"Fighting alongside them? What's going on?" questioned Lewis.

"Stuff we're actually not sure about ourselves." Duchess became serious. "We don't know what exactly is going on, but we need as many cars on our side as we can get. That's what Finn told us, at least."

"Finn McMissile?"

"Yeah. You know who he is?"

"Us racers found out everything about the World Grand Prix, what it was actually about, and the organization that was dealing with those Lemon cars. If this is something that needs those spies again, then it must be serious." Lewis was definitely going now. "And he said to get as many cars as possible to help?"

"He did." Duchess replied. "It's almost as if he knows something we don't… "

 **...**

"Siddeley! We're going to, heh, The Republic of what, Lewis?"

"New Rearendia, Duchess. Sounds a bit funny, I admit."

"The Republic of New Rearendia, Siddeley. Hehehehe, do cars get rear-ended there a lot?"

"I don't know. Ask Rip."

Next on the list was Rip Clutchgoneski, the racer of The Republic of New Rearendia. Even though he had never been to C.H.R.O.M.E., he had heard of it for the same reason everyone else had: The World Grand Prix. Excluding Lightning McQueen, eight out of the ten WGP Racers were able to go to C.H.R.O.M.E. and play in the simulations. They were all invited by Mater, but Rip and Lewis were unable to go for being busy. Now they had another chance, except this time they were going to be forced to go no matter what. And Rip had no idea what was coming his way. Neither did his crew chief.

"Who are you, again?" Brian Gearlooski questioned Duchess after receiving the information.

"Duchess." was the response.

"I need to know more than that, Miss Duchess, so I can make sure this isn't a trick or something." The Elantra only smirked and began turning away.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gearlooski, but that's all I can give." she simply said. "If you can't take me to Rip himself, then I'm afraid I can't give you any more info about me."

"That's the thing. I have to know more so I can bring you to him, or him to you." Brian said. Duchess backed up to turn.

"Then that's unfortunate, huh? I was ordered by two cars to not give any personal information but my name." she explained. "Just promise me you'll tell Rip what I told you. Please? I've pretty much been all over the world trying to track down everyone who participated in the World Grand Prix. So please, tell him." Brian looked Duchess in the eyes for a second.

"Okay, I will." he finally gave in. "I just hope you're not doing anything illegal." His gaze hardened a little and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Oh, trust me, it's not." Duchess turned and rolled away, but before she got too far, she stopped. "In fact, you might thank us if it all turns out well in the end." Brian had been turned around, but when he faced where Duchess was to say something, she was gone.

"Well. That was weird." he mumbled to himself. He quickly drove away to where his racer was, which was at a little café. Unsurprisingly, there were fans around him. "Hey, Rip? Could you come here please?" Brian called once he got Rip's attention.

"Huh? Oh, sure." the orange racer said. He carefully made his way around the cars and to his crew chief. "What's up?"

"Can we go somewhere private? I've got a strange message to tell you and I don't want others hearing." Brian said quietly.

"Uh, okay." Rip followed Brian out of the café and far away from others. "Is something wrong?" Rip asked. He suddenly looked panicked. "Wait, am I being replaced? Are you getting rid of me?" he asked worriedly. "Is the reason you didn't want others hearing because of that?!"

"What? No no no! That is not at all what I have to say. Calm down, Clutchgoneski." Brian assured, chuckling at how quickly the young racer was to assume the worst. "No, you're not getting fired from racing." Rip visibly relaxed at that.

"Whew, okay then what is it?" he asked, less worried.

"Some secret organization called C.H.R.O.M.E. is requesting you to go to their headquarters and help with something huge." Brian told him. "I was told by an Elantra named Duchess."

"C.H.R.O.M.E…" Rip repeated, thinking. "Hey, I kno-" But then he stopped himself, as he remembered two lines from Mater's invitation.

 _"Y'all are invited, but it's you racers and you racers only. That means don't tell yer pit crew or friends about it 'cause remember: It's a SECRET!"_

"-know not of a place by that name. Nope, I've never heard of that before." Rip finished his sentence.

"Really? Because this Duchess vehicle said she had been looking for all the other racers from the World Grand Prix." Brian prodded. "Probably to give them the same information I just told you. You sure you don't know what C.H.R.O.M.E. is? Or a car by the name of Duchess?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Rip half-lied. "Now, can I go back to the café? I got this new oil-atte, and it is amazing, and I left it behind…" Brian just stared at his racer.

"I guess." he said, unamused.

"Great! I'll be, uh, who knows where if you need me!" Rip said hurriedly, then took off. He swung by the café to pick up his fancied oil and slipped away unnoticed. "Wow. I'm actually going to go! I'm actually getting to go to C.H.R.O.M.E. this time!" Rip said happily to himself. Those simulations Mater wrote about in his invitation sounded like tons of fun, but he didn't get to go because Brian had him busy training. Now that New Rearendia's racing season was over, he was free! "Okay, Duchess. Where are you?" he pondered out loud as he left the town.

"Right here, Rip." answered a voice. The racer turned to see a red Elantra behind a building.

"Oh, hi. I take it you're the one who told my crew chief everything?" Rip assumed.

"Not quite everything, but enough to get you interested." Duchess responded. "Follow me, if you are, and you will learn more about everything soon." She paused for a second. "But before we go, I have a serious question for you."

"What is it?"

"Do cars get rear-ended here a lot?"

 **...**

The stars were coming out as night was falling across Rio de Janeiro. Volkswagen crickets chirped their tiny horns, and VW firefly bugs lit up the night sky. The day was coming to an end, but the parties were just beginning. That meant another fabulous day of racing was over, and the gorgeous Carla Veloso could dance the night away. Well, she was planning to do that, but her usually aggressive crew chief Cruz Besouro found her before midnight.

Carla was dancing with her friends and catching the attention of many male vehicles. They were being held back by security, letting the ladies have the floor to themselves. Carla was especially showy. With her Car-nival paint job and curvy body, she flaunted her sexy self as she moved with the music. She was paying no mind to any of the men; all she was focused on was a night full of dancing after a day's worth of racing. In fact, the Brazilian racer didn't even notice her crew chief come in.

"Carla!" Cruz called. He pushed past the men watching his racer and, much to the jealousy of the watchers, went right up to Veloso. "Carla, devo dizer-lhe algo que eu ouvi hoje." he announced quietly.

"O que fiz você ouve hoje, Cruz?" Carla asked.

"Something that makes me wonder what else you do in your free time." said Cruz in English. He rolled off the floor with Carla following him.

"O que quer dizer que você quer saber o que mais eu fazer?" Carla questioned. Cruz didn't answer until they were outside away from everybody.

"Oh, I was informed of something quite interesting." he said plainly.

"What was it? And why must we speak English?"

"Because I would rather not have many cars hearing us." Cruz looked directly at Carla. He didn't seem mad, just very confused. "Do you work with spies when you are not racing?"

"Do I work with spies?" The racer laughed. Of course she didn't work with them. She was only trained once by two. "What kind of a question is that, Cruz? Surely you are not serious."

"I am." said Cruz firmly. "Some red car told me a spy organization needed as many cars as they could. This red car asked for you, specifically."

"What kind of red car? Did they give a name?" Carla asked.

"She said her name was Duchess, and I could not tell what she was." Cruz tried remembering. "The word on her back end started with an 'E', but I could not tell the rest."

"Duchess? That is a pretty name. And I officially do not know what you are talking about." Carla lied.

"Then why would that car be asking for you specifically?"

"That is a good question. Let me find her and ask."

"Alone? I don't want you going out there alone. Especially at night." Cruz argued, blocking Carla.

"Do not worry about me. I am not going alone." Carla assured him.

"Who is going with you?"

Carla's friends followed her out of the club once she asked them to go with her. They all kept a lookout for the red vehicle, and one of them spotted Duchess in no time.

"Carla, é que o carro que você está procurando?" she asked, pointing. The Brazilian racer saw the red vehicle who looked out of place.

"Eu penso assim. Aguarde aqui, e se eu partir, não diga o meu chefe de equipe." Carla then told her friends no one was supposed to know where she was going and told them goodbye. "So, you must be Duchess?" Carla assumed when she drove over to her.

"Yes, that would be me." the Elantra affirmed. "How did you know? Usually, I have to find the racer."

"You look very out of place. Not painted for partying." Carla explained with a smirk. "I mean no offense with that. You are very beautiful, but your beauty comes from somewhere else, not here. By your accent, I guess America?"

"That would be correct. Manufactured and raised in Oklahoma." Duchess said proudly. "But since I'm a spy, I'm all over the place now. I gotta keep strong and independent." Carla smiled.

"I like strong, independent women. We show men that we do not need them to stay ahead in life." she stated.

"That is so true." Duchess said with complete honesty. "And by looking at you, I can tell you probably have men trying to get with you all the time."

"Yes, and it is so cute when they think they can win me over. I have my racing career to focus on. Having a man would just slow me down, and I love nothing more than to go fast." Carla said in an eager tone.

"Same here. Except I'm a solo spy, not a racer, so I really can't be distracted." Duchess almost sighed.

"I would hope not. Whatever this thing is you are calling me for, sounds like it does not need distractions." said Carla. "What is it about, anyway?" Duchess started leaving, and Carla followed.

"C.H.R.O.M.E. needs help big time. It's the Lemons from the World Grand Prix."

"Are they back?"

"Pretty much. They're cooking up some big scheme, complete with vehicles who aren't Lemons."

"That sounds horrible!" Carla exclaimed when they joined Lewis and Rip on Siddeley.

"What sounds horrible?" asked Lewis.

"The cars who blew up our engines at the races. They have cars with them who are not Lemons!" exclaimed Carla.

"What?! Really?! We're supposed to be fighting against them, and I thought it would be easy since they're really crappy cars. Now they've got better vehicles with them!" Rip complained in a sigh. "Oh great. This might be harder than we thought." he added.

 **...**

"Okay, last one. Finally!" Duchess said to herself when she got off Siddeley. This was beginning to get ridiculous. No, it was already ridiculous since the fifth racer. In order to get the racer, she had to find their crew chief first. That might have been for security reasons, but to the Elantra, it was just a waste of time. It took forever to find the crew chiefs, and then she practically had to beg for them to tell their racers. They either thought she had the wrong car or was insane, so she had to do much begging until they agreed. So far, everyone had been picked up and were all waiting in London, which meant the begging was at least not in vain. They had all been accounted for, except one. Whoever this Raoul ÇaRoule is was in France and it was going to be difficult for Duchess to find him. She had always wanted to visit that country on vacation, not business matters.

 _"This is not fun…"_ Duchess thought. Not only was she distracted by the sights, but she also had no idea where to look for Raoul's crew chief. She had no idea where he even lived! The only information she was given about these ten racers was their name, their crew chief's name, and the country they lived in. While she got nine of the racers' pictures and places of residence, she got the least information about Raoul for some reason. No picture of him, no place of residence, and no crew chief name. It was a last-minute decision to find all WGP Racers to help against the Lemons, and the Elantra was practically shoved aboard Siddeley while learning about them. Of course the last racer had the least information given about him. Duchess ended up spending the whole day searching, trying to find either Raoul or his crew chief, but it was as if they didn't want to be found. There was not a single piece of information about them to find anywhere. Asking for help was useless; she didn't know a lick of French. Duchess began to think she was in the wrong part of France, given the fact she was almost in Germany. Siddeley had flown to one side of France so that Duchess could wander about and try to find anything about this racer. Clear on one edge of the country, Duchess had driven and found herself in a region called Alsace, confused about not being sure if she was in France or Germany. "Ooookay, Mister Raoul ÇaRoule, where are you?" she grumbled to herself after the sun had gone down. The longer and longer it took, the more and more she didn't like him. Duchess heard not enough about this French rally car and had no idea what to expect. He sounded cool from hearing the others talk about him, but the Elantra had met cars who were considered cool and were completely full of themselves. They were arrogant and thought they were better than everyone else. Duchess had also been told a quick fact that Raoul was an acrobat in a circus at one time. _"Great… He's a rally racecar who's an acrobat… He's gonna know so many tricks and be such a showoff…"_ Duchess was still thinking about that when she unintentionally drove into someone.

"Hey! Regarder où vous allez, dame!" the car snapped.

"Oh, I'm very sorry! Didn't see where I was going!" rambled off Duchess. She looked to her right and noticed a crowd gathering at a large, fenced-in area. It was lit by big floodlights, and the crowd seemed to be very impressed by whatever was in that fence. "What's going on over there?" she asked.

"Oh, you speak English." said the car Duchess ran into. The Elantra looked at him.

"Finally! Someone who speaks my language!" she exclaimed in relief. The car just smirked at her.

"Tourist, I assume?" he guessed. "You must be if you do not know what is happening over zhere."

"I guess you could say that." Duchess sighed, just wanting to get the racer and get out of there. "So, what's everyone so amazed about?"

"Only France's best racer and most loved rally car, Raoul ÇaRoule!" he announced proudly. Duchess's entire body drooped.

"Oh…" she said.

"You do not seem very excited to see him." noted the car.

"Oh, um, well, I've been looking for him all day. Or his crew chief. I have a message for him and him only." explained Duchess, sounding like she just wanted to leave. She noticed the car was looking her up and down, partly suspicious. Then his expression changed suddenly. "You don't happen to know where his crew chief is? Since I obviously can't get near him with that crowd." The car's eyes sparkled.

"Well, I do know where Raoul's chief is, but if what you have to tell him is for his ears only, I can help you." he offered. He drove next to her, causing her to turn the direction he was facing. "Come zis way, I will show you zee best view of zat amazing Raoul."

 _"Oh great… Even random strangers are bragging about this car… He's famous, and I just know it's probably all gone to his hood…"_ Duchess thought. _"I feel like I won't like this Raoul ÇaRoule at all…"_ The car led her past other cars, and they all made room for the two as they went. Duchess wondered why all the vehicles took one look at the guy she was following and instantly got out of his way. Eventually, they came to an area that looked like it was blocked, but it was just the way the trees were growing that made it look that way. No one was there.

"Ah, here it is! Zee best spot to see him!" the car proudly presented.

"Look, I appreciate knowing the location of the best spot, but I really don't have time to mess around and watch a-." At that moment, Raoul sped past them. "-very… beautifully… handsome… hatchback…" Duchess's eyes were glued to the rally car. The car next to her was smiling.

"Heh, heh. I take it you find interest in Raoul, no?" he said slyly.

"Huh?" Duchess was still looking at Raoul, taking in the view of his…tail lights. "What? No no. He's just really… pretty…" The car next to her laughed a bit.

"He gets zat a lot. I am always having to shoo fangirls off of him because he is never interested in any." he said.

"What? Really? He's famous. Just by looking at him, I thought he had someone already." Duchess admitted.

"Oh, he is quite famous, and no he has no one right now." the car told her. "Not yet, anyway." he added quietly.

"How do you know?" Duchess asked. The car smiled at her.

"I should know." he said with a smile. "I am his crew chief." Duchess stared at him, surprised.

"Really? You're his crew chief?"

"Oui, I am." Bruno Motoreau nodded. "You can tell my racer whatever it is you need to. Look, here he comes!" Duchess turned around and saw Raoul coming around the bend backwards. He wasn't looking her way, though.

"But I don't…" Duchess turned to ask the car something, but Bruno had already left. "Oh fun… How will I ever get his attention?" She faced the bar metal fence and watched the show. It was very impressive, seeing this rally car do all his stunts. He sure did wow the crowd, and Duchess wondered how often he put on shows just for fun. The way he flipped and drifted and performed definitely showed he had the practice. _"And he looks beautiful doing it…"_ Duchess thought. Raoul came around the bend again, but he was driving on two wheels. Specifically his left wheels, so Duchess could only see his undercarriage and not his face. One last time, he went around the stunt track, and Duchess put her face against the fence. Her engine pulsed rapidly when she saw Raoul drifting around the bend turned around, so he was facing her. They made eye contact almost immediately.

Raoul loved entertaining crowds. When he wasn't racing, he was performing. And performing was like playtime for him. He was doing all sorts of acts, like two-wheeled driving and flipping and going backwards up a ramp, doing several air tricks, then landing, still backwards. The crowd loved it all, and Raoul enjoyed making them happy. The only time his fans complained was when he said "Dernière une!" and he did his last trick. This time, he decided to show off his talent at drifting and did it backwards. Instead of facing the inside of the curve, he faced the outside and drifted like that. How he did it, no one would ever know. But Raoul felt it had something to do with that beautiful Hyundai he saw.

As soon as he began drifting, he looked at the cars standing on the outside of the arena. He smiled at them all, making the ladies crazy, except for one. And this one in particular, caught his eye. It was like slow motion as he drifted past her. She was a red vehicle, he couldn't tell what exactly she was, but what he could tell was that she was beautiful. They stared at each other, and the rally car wished that moment never ended.

 _"Quelle beauté…"_ Raoul whispered to himself. He quickly whipped his body around, ending his drift in a donut, jumped in the air and did a counter-clockwise flip, then ended it with a bow. The crowd went nuts, and Raoul yelled 'thank you' to them twice. "Je vous aime tous!" he added. He stole a glance over at the red car, which he could see was a Hyundai. She looked at him with impressed eyes, so he gave her a lustful look and winked at her. She smiled shyly and returned the lustful wink. The rally car felt a beating in his engine. "Être encore, mon moteur…" Raoul told himself.

Duchess did not leave her spot. Especially since Raoul motioned for her to stay there. Her engine was pulsing, making her nervous. The longer she waited, the more she felt like she was going to leak oil. Duchess decided whether or not to look for Bruno, but her nervousness got the best of her. She started speeding off to find Bruno, but Raoul's front end prevented her from doing so.

"Oh!" Duchess exclaimed when her front bumper pressed against his. She backed up, glad she already had red paint to hide the blush. "I-I'm so sorry, Mr. ÇaRoule! I-I didn't know you were coming over here!" she rambled off, looking at the ground. Raoul just smirked.

"Ah, zhere is no problem!" he assured. "Was me gesturing you to stay not enough?" Duchess looked shyly into his friendly, icy blue eyes.

"It was. I was just, just going to find your crew chief and tell him what I need to tell you, Mr. ÇaRoule." she tried not squeaking as she said so. Raoul raised half his windshield frame at her.

"Mr. ÇaRoule?" He laughed. "Oh, ho ho! Please, sweetheart, call me Raoul." He began circling her slowly. "Besides, a beautiful car such as yourself needs not to refer to me as a Mr., anyway."

"Uh, heh heh, heh…" Duchess's hood was swimming as Raoul checked her out. She pulled herself together and cleared her throat. "Okay, wow… I uh, I have a message for you, Raoul."

"Is zat so?" he asked with interest, coming to a stop in front of her. Very close. "What is it you must tell me?"

"C.H.R.O.M.E. is requesting your presence at the headquarters." stated Duchess. Her axles were trembling nervously since the slightly bigger, handsome rally car was close enough to kiss.

"C.H.R.O.M.E.? Zat is not a name I have heard in a while." He looked at her. "Is zhere somezhing wrong?"

"Yes. It's a serious issue with the bad guys from the World Grand Prix. We need as much help as we can get. Come, please." Duchess backed up, not wanting him to see her lovestruck shaking. She urged Raoul by motioning him to follow her.

"Zee bad cars from zee World Grand Prix? And C.H.R.O.M.E. is in need of help? Zis sounds exciting. Okay, I suppose I shall go." He followed her to Siddeley.

"What took you so long, Duchess?" Sidd questioned when he saw her and the rally car.

"Couldn't find Raoul's crew chief, so his crew chief finally took me to Raoul." said Duchess awkwardly.

"What?"

"Long story. Don't ask."

Once they boarded the jet, they were off to London. Raoul and Duchess were alone in Siddeley, and the Elantra wished they weren't. It was too awkward. _"Oh yeah… Ten racers…"_ she thought, gazing at Raoul's paint. _"Dropped them off three at a time… Seven, eight and nine were the last three… They were Lewis, Rip, and Carla…"_

"You like my paint?"

"Do what?" Duchess said. She was ripped from her thoughts by a racer. Again.

"I asked, you like my paint?" Raoul had turned his body to the side a little. "I noticed you staring." Duchess smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's kind of splatter-painty, and I like it."

"Zen I shall keep it zee way it is." Raoul smiled at Duchess in such a way, her engine fluttered big time.

 _"No Duchess… You don't like him… You must keep business first…"_ she thought to herself when it was obvious she was wrong. Raoul was very kind and not arrogant or full of himself. He was also quite handsome, if Duchess had to admit. In fact, she fell for him the moment she saw him. _"No, what am I thinking?! I gotta keep my duty first… Just like Carla and I talked about: Strong, independent woman who needs no man… A man would just slow my job down… I'm a solo spy, not a lover…"_ She looked at the rally car again and saw that he was also gazing at her. His eyes were beautiful, just like him. _"But I could be… No no no no… I don't like him… I have no interest in him at all…"_ And Duchess denied herself the whole way to London.

But Raoul was quite the opposite. _"I like her, but does she like me back?"_ he thought. He could tell she liked him, with the way she looked at him and how shy she was. But he didn't know how much. Every time they made eye contact, she looked away real fast. She stopped talking to him, and every time she did have something to say, it was about spy business. She was a bit stuttery, too. It was a sudden change in behavior, and he wondered what was wrong. _"I do want her… But she seems so shy…"_ Raoul decided not to make conversation, so he just sat in silence and looked out the window. _"I shall impress her and get her attention…"_ he thought. _"Surely she cannot resist zee charm of Raoul ÇaRoule!"_

* * *

 ** _Oh goodness... I am guilty of a ship..._**

 ** _Whew! That sure was a long chapter! Remember how I said I'm putting as many Cars characters in it as I can? Well, this was my way of including the WGP Racers and their crew chiefs. Also, since everybody at C.H.R.O.M.E. is hurt and busy fixing their HQ, I decided we would follow Duchess as she's getting all the WGP Racers for C.H.R.O.M.E. (and throw in a ship because Raoul's my favorite). Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, including the people who read it and didn't review! Yes, I think of all of you because I enjoy entertaining people with a story of a dark Cars tale!_**

 ** _Alright, I'll be honest with you all again. I do have another Cars fanfic where I travel to the Carsverse, and I have been working on that a bit, which is why it took quite a while for this one to be updated. It's called I Was Bored, and I've actually had that one longer than The Way They Seem. It's got about six chapters right now, and I might post it after this one is completed. Tell you what, if I get at least five reviews by the end of The Way They Seem saying they would read I Was Bored, then I'll post it. That way I'll know at least five people will read it!_**

 ** _Annnd that's all I can give right now, folks! Chapter seven will be up... I don't know when. But it will be up when I complete it. It might not be as long as this chapter, but that's okay. At least I'm writing it! See you all in the next chapter!_**


	8. Seven

**_Hello, m'doots! (A friend from iFunny used to call all his friends that lol)_**

 ** _And I will keep my promise. Got five reviews that said they would read I Was Bored, so guess what's getting uploaded after this story?_**

 ** _Glad to see you're still here (if you are; please be here!). I have another chapter for youuuuuuuu!_**

 ** _Now, this chapter is with the lemons and it might be a little confusing... I tried to make it make as much sense as possible, especially towards the end. Everything will make sense in the end of this story; I promise everything will be explained by then._**

 ** _justuslogan225, I had started chapter 7 already, but when you asked for the lemons in 7, you gave me a great idea! Thank you for that and your review!_**

 ** _Little Feathered Flame, I love your username. It's so cool! I do ship Duchess and Raoul, but we shall see what happens later in the story with that... The WGP Racers will be in the next chapter, so stay tuned and see you in 8!_**

 ** _Britishlover123, You seem very excited to read I Was Bored hahaha. I will upload it, don't worry!_**

 ** _PASTAAAAA, Thank you so much for your very kind review, it made my day when I read it! And yeah the story I Was Bored came from me being bored, and having a computer sitting in front of me hahahaha._**

 ** _kailaangel42, Of course you already love my story because you've told me many times hahahaha. Are you happy I shared the document with you?_**

 ** _Thank you all for your reviews; they make me happy when I know people out there are enjoying something I wrote! I love you all!_**

* * *

 _ **Seven**_

For three months, everything was going well so far. Every day the machine got closer and closer to being completed, and Mystery was putting together his plan in his office. It all fit together so perfectly, that he just wanted to secretly dance and sing of how happy he was. After many failed attempts by others in the past, there was no way Mystery's way could fail. He had thought of every single possible way his plan could be sabotaged and found none would work. He had researched every single vehicle who had attempted world domination and learned from their ways and mistakes. This plan was going to be successful, and no one had any doubts. Not anymore, at least. Mystery only had one Trunkov who openly admitted he didn't believe Mystery's plan was worth waiting for. Petrov Trunkov made that mistake when he was talking with Tolga Trunkov about it.

"I know I'm apparently not supposed to be saying this, but I do not believe Mystery." Petrov said out of the blue.

"You better hope he does not hear you." Tolga warned. "You never know where he might be hiding." Petrov just looked at Tolga, putting down the tiny washer he just made.

"It has been six months! He is still refusing to tell us anything about his plan! Don't you think that sounds, well, _glupyy_?" he questioned. **(A/N: Russian: глупый)** Tolga shook his hood.

"No, it actually does not." he defended. "Maybe he does not trust some of us, and that is why he refuses to tell."

"Why would he not trust us? Have we not proven ourselves reliable already? We got ourselves out of prison and we are building parts for this machine. He should trust us already!" Petrov griped.

"Actually, Grem and Acer were the ones to get us all out. And making parts for something is not enough to prove that you are worthy of trust." Tolga reminded. "Just wait for it. He cannot keep it a secret from us much longer." Petrov backed up from his workplace.

"I do not care. Mystery should tell us now." he grumbled.

"But he told us it shall be ready soon enough. Within five years, remember?" Tolga said with worry in his voice. He didn't want Petrov to be heard by their leader.

"Yes, I remember." Petrov said sternly. "And I do not believe Mystery knows what he is doing."

"You never know. He might be one of the most intelligent vehicles around with an unstoppable plan." Tolga was afraid Petrov's next words would be the forbidden ones. And of course, they were.

"I doubt that." Petrov began turning but bumped into a solid black vehicle. He looked up in fear as his eyes met stunning red ones.

"Please tell me you did not just say what I think you said…" Mystery's voice was calm, but it had an unmistakable edge.

"What? That I doubted you?" Petrov suddenly felt rage and was no longer afraid. "I did say it." Everyone around gasped. Not only was Petrov the first Lemon to touch Mystery, but he was the first one who had stood up to him like that. Mystery's eyes widened in surprise that such a crappy car would have the nerve to say something like that. He rolled forward, causing Petrov to reverse and lower himself under the intimidating gaze.

"My, my. We are very brave here, aren't we?" Mystery said breezily. He slid his tire under Petrov's front bumper and yanked upwards, lifting the Lemon's front tires off the ground. "Do you not remember what happens to those who doubt me?" Mystery growled in Petrov's face.

"That silly device? Like that can scare me." Petrov meant every word of what he said, with no intention of taking it back. Mystery harshly put the Zaporozhets's front back down.

"Comrade, do you have a death wish?" asked a horrified Tolga. "Stop talking!"

"No." Petrov glared at Mystery. "Either I know this guy's plan, or I am out of here."

"I would listen to my friend if I were you." Mystery aimed his tire, which already had the nasty little device-gun ready. "You gonna take that back?" he asked coldly.

"No." A beat of silence passed. "Now get out of my way. I'm out of here, and I doubt you." Nobody had time to move or react when Mystery shot Petrov. The tiny device buried itself in the light green car's front, sending him into a world of pain. Everyone around reversed and said nothing, listening to Petrov's screams of pain. He acted much like Grem when he was shot, but when the device melted this time, Petrov lost control of himself. He ran into tables and other Lemons, begging with a teary windshield for someone to kill him. A few cars wanted to put him out of his misery, but Mystery stopped them.

"Leave him be. This is exactly why you don't doubt me. Let this be a lesson to you all." he said. A trio of white forklifts restrained Petrov, putting tirecuffs on him and lifting him off the ground. He had stopped yelling and had reverted to whimpering and shaking. He lifted his own red eyes to look at Mystery's. "Such a shame." the solid black vehicle said with pity. He lifted his tire and stroked Petrov's hood. "You could have saved yourself from this. Too bad you didn't listen to Tolga." The forklifts carried the extremely painful Lemon away, to a chamber where no one would hear his screams. "Anymore doubts? No? Good. I don't want to lose any more of you. My machine is almost completed anyway." There were a few gasps.

"Mystery, sir, the machine is almost completed? You could have told him before you did that!" Tolga didn't think twice before talking to Mystery like that.

"Of course I wasn't going to tell him! I don't want un-loyal followers." Mystery told him, unbothered by Tolga's tone. "You all have stuck with me since we met. None of you have doubted, which means you're all loyal. Too bad Petrov had to ruin it for himself."

"He probably thought it would take five years, like you said, and could not wait that long." said Tolga quietly. Mystery just looked at him.

"I said it could take UP TO five years. But seeing that it's going faster than I could have ever imagined, and with Finn McMissile on the verge of snapping, I'll give it a few more months."

"Until what?"

"Until I tell you everything real soon." Mystery drove away without another word. Nobody spoke until he had disappeared completely behind a set of doors.

"He'll tell us real soon? Did I hear that right?" Petey Pacer asked, almost sounding excited.

"Yeah, you did." confirmed Alexander Hugo. "We are actually going to find out this year, not way later."

"What makes you think it'll be this year, Alex?" Petey quizzed. "There's still a chance it might take longer."

"We have been working on this thing for a long time. Something tells me it is almost completed." Alex guessed. "Besides, how much longer can he keep it secret from us?" J. Curby Gremlin spoke up next.

"You never really know." he said. "Something could go wrong and postpone the whole operation."

"Oh, don't say that, Curby!" Alex slightly pleaded.

"The power of speech is pretty strong. If it takes longer now, I'm blaming you." Petey cut his eyes towards the leader of the Gremlins. There was some more chatter among the Lemon families as everyone discussed how much longer it could take. One car slipped away from everyone, specifically a Pacer with a purple spray of paint on his face.

Tubbs Pacer was having one of his days where he wanted to be away from everybody. After that Impala had sprayed a thick line of light purple across Tubbs's face, he got laughed at a lot. Mostly by the police, who thought he looked ridiculous with 'an already ugly paint job and random purple stripe', as they had said. Some of the Lemons agreed with that statement, which made Tubbs try to stay out of sight. After some time, though, they got used to seeing him like that and stopped caring. But Tubbs still preferred to be alone every once in a while, and explore.

He rolled into a dark hallway, one that was off to the side and no one had gone down before. Well, not counting Mystery, Zündapp, Grem, and Acer, no one else had gone down that hall before. Not that he was aware of, at least. Sometimes, the other Lemons including Tubbs envied Grem and Acer. Those two were always Zündapp's right-tire men and seemed to always be with him or Mystery. However, they were never allowed into the room where the machine was being built. With that thought in mind, it may have been down this hall, Tubbs thought, and no one was in sight. _"Where is the room at?"_ he wondered. There were a few doors lining both sides, but each was dark and locked. Tubbs peeked into one of the door windows, shining his headlights in the rooms and seeing really nothing. Just a crate of vials in the center of one room.

"Wait, what?" Tubbs whispered to himself. He looked inside the room he just saw and spotted the crate again. The label was faded and some characters were missing, but he could read most of it.

 **'TES(?) SUBJECT (?)0(?)(?)Y's EL(?)TE SERUM'.**

"Test subject something… el-tay, el-tee, eel-te… What?" Tubbs tried to pronounce the possibilities. He looked at the word and thought harder. "Oh, _elite_." he said when he realized what letter was missing. "Elite serum that belonged to a test subject? What could that have possibly been about?" The door was surprisingly unlocked, and Tubbs looked around before going in. Inside, the room was super dark. The partially purple-faced Pacer turned his headlights on again but kept them dim. He looked all around the room, which had cardboard boxes of papers that looked really old. Mind scans from decades and decades ago littered the floor in a corner where a box had been upset. Tubbs rolled over to them and looked through them. He wasn't sure what they were for, but the oldest looking ones looked the least successful in whatever was trying to be accomplished. Going to another box revealed more papers, these being medical records. There were many, and each one had numbers and letters at the top. The longer Tubbs looked at and read these papers, the more they looked like notes of science. They were medical papers, but they were not used by doctors. Tubbs's eyes widened as he read paper after paper, which had the numbers and letters at the top labeled as SUBJECT, and notes of experiment results below.

 _Every attempt at brainwashing and mind control has failed. This civilian subject almost gave herself up, but she resisted. Resorted to modifications. Subject died before modifications were complete._

A second paper caught the Pacer's eye.

 _Civilian subject is not taking to the modifications well. He has been extremely hostile and will attack anyone who gets near. Seven days after the experiment was conducted on him, he was found with part of his engine blown out. He was also found to be mentally unstable as a result of trauma from it. Subject died two days later._

Tubbs picked up another paper.

 _In the length of time she was here, not much can be said about this one. She was a secret agent, so she almost survived the modifying experiment. She knew how to keep herself together and was extremely intelligent. Subject was able to take most of her modifications out and live for two full weeks. In those two weeks, she outsmarted every scientist and kept away from them. She most likely would have made it out of the facility if her engine did not fail and she got caught. Subject died during week three._

And another.

 _This one was almost successful. Subject was another secret agent, extremely hostile and quick to think. He killed four scientists and could not be dealt with for some time. Putting the machine inside his cab worked and he did not die from it. Subject escaped without the machine. Experimental test subject lived._

 _Added later: Experimental test subject stolen a year later. Sylavere was killed. Subject and experimental test subject fate: Both unknown._

Then one more with another added note.

 _Subject got away as soon as the machine was put inside his cab. Operations and Project: Rise could be blown, should the machine inside him be tracked back to this facility. Subject was a C.H.R.O.M.E. agent._

 _Added later: Researching has confirmed subject is alive and still a secret agent. He still acts slightly different from experiment trauma. Is capable of losing his mind and snapping, just like the others._

Tubbs went through more papers, reading away at them all. He was shocked. "What happened all those years ago? What was Project: Rise? Who was Sylavere?" he asked no one but the papers. **(A/N: Sylavere is pronounced sigh-la-veer)** Something happened that sounded like cars were being made to be better, but he wasn't sure. None of these documents were specific, and some were faded. Others were written in fast cursive and were illegible. Tubbs put the papers down and looked over to the shelves. There were pieces of machinery on them, ranging from completed to hardly started. One, in particular, was broken. Tubbs rolled up to it and examined it as best he could. It was pretty big, and the shape of it looked like it was custom built to fit inside a car's cabin. Or maybe it was supposed to be an android car, and this was the cab part. Parts of it were broken and broken off, and there were large dark spots all over it. Upon closer realization, Tubbs realized those were bloodstains. The old red oil looked like it had bled from the machine too, and not just the car. He backed up and saw more equipment, some with evidence of fights that happened. Dents, bullet holes, scratches, somebody's paint job, and even teeth marks were visible on a lot of devices in the room. Tubbs began to wonder if some of these things were used to restrain uncooperative vehicles. "What on Earth happened? When did it happen? WHY did it happen?" Tubbs was really curious now. He had only been here a few minutes, and already he was painfully curious of what story these items held. Nothing in the room was specific on what happened, and neither did anything explain anything. He decided to go tell somebody about what he found.

As he turned to leave, his eye caught the crate with the serum. Tubbs looked in it and saw a number of vials. Some were broken, some were empty, and some had liquid in them. They were all labeled to be given to whatever the 'test subject' was. The vial with the most liquid in it was labeled 'Medicine', so it must have been for when the subject got sick. There were several labeled 'Nutrient', and Tubbs figured the test subject must have been pretty malnourished; all eight vials were empty. There were a few other labels that were for different things, but Tubbs decided to leave before he got caught. He pushed open the door and rolled out into the hall. The door shut behind him without a sound, and instead of going back out, the head of the Pacer family went further down the hall.

As he came upon the end of it, a door caught his attention. It was the one that led to the room where Mystery's special machine was being built, that he could tell. The 'Keep Out, Lemons' sign on it was what gave it away. Tubbs checked his rearview mirror to make sure no one was coming behind him, then quickly made his way to that last door on the left. He peeked into the window, which he could see was another hallway that ended with another door on the right. Tubbs tried pushing the door open, but it was locked.

"What are you doing?" a voice demanded. Tubbs was scared out of his mind that Mystery or the professor had caught him. He turned to see a small, dark silhouette with a glowing white windshield and equally bright brown eyes.

"Um, just exploring." Tubbs said nervously. He looked hard at the car in front of him. "Acer? Is that you?"

"Yes." the now identified car nodded.

"How are your eyes glowing like Mystery's?" Acer rolled forward, letting himself be seen better by Tubbs.

"Mystery gave Grem and me inner lights." he said like a braggart. "You put them on your dashboard behind your windshield and they make your eyes glow like this." Acer blinked his eyes twice, making the computer screen-like glow disappear twice. "I don't know if he has this too, or his eyes glow naturally, but I will say this: It's pretty cool!"

"Doesn't that mess up your vision? Like, blind you any?" Tubbs asked.

"Surprisingly, no. I can't even tell if I have it on unless I see the light on my hood." Acer said. He changed his tone and expression to serious. "Enough of that now. You weren't planning on going in there, were you?"

"Not at all, Ace." Tubbs didn't like how, even though he was the leader of the Pacer family, he still had to answer to Acer and Grem. "But I was hoping to talk to someone about something interesting I found." he added. Acer looked at him, frame half raised.

"What did you find, Tubbs?" he asked. Acer followed him to another door.

"Have you been in here?" Tubbs wondered.

"Only once to get some old papers for Mystery. I didn't really pay attention to anything." said Acer. "Did you go in there?"

"Yes, and I found a bunch of weird stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like papers from a long time ago of mind scans. It was as if whoever took those scans was trying to use mind control on vehicles." Tubbs started explaining. "And according to a bunch of notes, the mind control attempts failed every time. These scientists started modifying vehicles, and so many of them died from the mods." Tubbs said with a look of confusion and wonder in his eyes. Acer looked just confused.

"What in the name of heck are you talking about? Mind control? Changing vehicles?" Acer asked, bewildered.

"It's all in that room." Tubbs pointed with his tire. "Go check it out if you want to. I couldn't figure anything out by reading those papers, but you might. Nobody will notice if you're gone since you and Grem can go wherever you please. I gotta get back before anyone notices I'M gone." Tubbs quickly drove back down the hall, and it was a good thing, too. Acer heard Don Crumlin's voice shout at Tubbs.

"Where have you been, you Upside-Down Bathtub?" Don jested loudly when the tan Pacer rolled back to his station. He turned to Don with an irritated look.

"Nowhere that concerns you." Tubbs growled, then went quiet. "And don't call me that! My name is Tubbs!"

"Which makes Upside Down Bathtub your nickname." Don said with a snicker. "Everybody knows about it. Or should it be Upside Down Tub instead?"

There were a few harsh words exchanged, but Acer did not hear them. He had disappeared into the room with the strange things Tubbs had talked about. Acer glanced through some old notes before leaving to quickly find Grem. The yellow-green Pacer found the orange Gremlin coming out of the doors that blocked the hall to Mystery's office, barking orders at everybody.

"The boss said everything is almost complete now, and that you all have made enough parts for the machine." Grem said loudly. Happy voices rose from the Lemons, relieved they didn't have to spend their time making intricate, time-consuming parts. "But, you all must still continue to make weapons. The professor had been designing weapons while he waited for new parts. So, guess what you all still get to do?" There were several groans as nobody seemed to want to continue making stuff, but nobody dared to object. Acer waited until Grem got closer to drag him down the hall.

"Grem! Come here!" he beckoned wildly. Grem looked at him and pulled up to him.

"What is it now?" he asked. Acer grabbed Grem's front tire and pulled him down the hall. "Whoa, what are you doing, Acer?"

"Gonna show you this!" Acer said in a hushed, excited tone. He reached the door, looked both ways, opened it, and shoved Grem inside.

"Hey! Acer why did you shove me into a dark room? What are you doing?" Grem demanded in a fast, angered tone.

"Shh! I wanna show you something." Acer said quietly.

"Acerrr, I _swear_ dude, if you…" Grem began suspiciously, trailing off. His illuminated windshield was not enough light to see what Acer was doing, though.

"If I what?" Acer asked accusingly with narrowed eyes, turning from whatever he was doing. "What do you think I'm gonna do?" Grem looked around the room.

"You said you wanted to show me something, shoved me into a dark closet, and told me to be quiet. Kinda awkward." he deadpanned, looking at Acer unamused. Acer looked at him, eyes wide.

" _What_?! No no no, _NO_! Dodge HELLcat no! What on Earth would make you think that?" Acer questioned all horrified, then quickly changed his mind. "Never mind, don't tell me." He turned on his headlights, causing Grem to do the same in relief. "This was what I was wanting you to see." Acer pulled some papers out of a pile. Grem looked at them.

"These are medical notes, Acer." he said. "What's so fascinating about them?"

"Read them." Acer shoved more in front of Grem. The Gremlin read over them, and Acer watched his expression become surprised the more notes he read.

"Experiments? Modifications? Subjects? _Experimental test_ subject? What is all this about?" Grem asked after reading a few papers.

"Exactly what I'd like to know. Hey, what's all that stuff?" Acer quickly spotted something else, raising his front to shine some light on everything that was shelved.

"It looks like machinery." Grem stated.

"For what?"

"Like I'm supposed to know?"

From that moment, the two Lemons went through more papers, reading just about every single one of them. They studied the scans, the machines, and every note they could find for a couple of hours. They were eventually able to piece together a rough timeline of what events happened when. Starting with the old mind scans, the two guessed a group of scientists tried controlling vehicles using brainwashing. When that didn't work, the scientists turned to bodily modifications. Grem concluded that every modified car died because they couldn't handle what had been done to them. Acer said it looked like the next thing the scientists did was try to create a vehicle, but they were unable to create a living thing. The notes ended there, saying every attempt failed.

"So, what about these machines? This one is all blood-stained." Acer noted, looking at one. "What do you think they were used for?"

"I think they were used for building a vehicle." Grem assumed. "That one looks like the shape of a cab, see?"

"It does. Maybe it was part of a modification on some car, like they got their cabin replaced with a machine, and they died from it." guessed Acer. "Those papers did say a lot of vehicles died from mods."

"Maybe so. It's hard to tell." Grem gazed up at all the restraining devices. "Looks like those poor souls put up a fight." Acer looked up, too.

"Oh, yeah. It does. Too bad for them it ended badly." he sighed without much care.

"Too bad." Grem repeated. His glowing green eyes landed on the crate with the vials. "But who was this used for?"

"Probably someone who was unhealthy." Acer pointed out, gesturing at the eight empty 'Nutrient' vials.

"But here's one that says 'Strengthening Serum'." read Grem.

"And here's one labeled 'Growth'."

"And why is this one called 'Specialized Oil'?"

"Well, here's one that says 'Gasoline'." Grem and Acer looked at each other, clearly confused. Who did these vials belong to? What was their purpose? The two were both thinking the same thing.

"Wow, I am so confused!" was all Grem could say.

"I am too." Acer stared at everything. "Y'know, if all this was written on paper like a story, I bet the reader would be just as confused as us!" Grem looked at him funny.

"What a strange comparison." he said. "But you're probably right." Grem looked into the box once more. "Hey, there's another vial at the bottom."

"Well, what is it?"

"Shine your light on it. I can't pick it up or read it." Acer shined his lights on it. Grem took note that it had some black residue at the bottom, making it the most empty - not counting the vials of nutrients. "It just says 'Serum'." he said. "Nothing else. Just 'Serum'. Oh, wait, it also says 'Given only by Sylavere'. Now who's _that_?"

"I don't know. But he's got a cool name." Acer reversed and went to the door. "Well, since we've found out all that, I gotta go tell Tubbs about it. He found it all and told me to tell him if I understood any of it." Grem was silent and unmoving. "Grem? We should probably go now…" Acer stopped talking when Grem turned around, his surprisingly dazzling green eyes even more imposing now that they were illuminated. He looked like he had just realized something obvious.

"Acer, do you think that maybe all this stuff has to do with that machine Professor Zündapp is building?" he considered. Acer thought for a moment.

"You mean modifying cars or mind controlling them?" he asked.

"One of those two, maybe even both. Why else would Mystery have all this stuff?" Grem watched as it started to click in Acer's mind.

"I had never thought about that before…" he trailed off, looking as if he were in a trance. He looked back to Grem; the Pacer's already lit up eyes lit were up with something else. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked mischievously.

"That depends." Grem was almost afraid to ask after seeing Acer's eyes. "What's going on in that try-hard mind of yours?" Acer was about to speak, but punched Grem's fender instead.

"Hey, I'm not a try-hard!" he objected. "Now, what I'm thinking is this: We sneak into the room where the machine is being built and try to figure out what it is. It was my idea I just came up with." Acer waited for an answer.

"That is a stupid idea." was the answer. "Not that I don't want to see the machine, but I just don't want to get caught." Grem said wearily. "We don't know what Mystery is exactly capable of, or what he'll do to us if he catches us."

"And if he doesn't catch us?" Acer prodded. "Come on, Grem. We are learning so much by what we're finding, would it hurt to just take a peek?" Grem just stared at him.

"Maybe." he grumbled, glancing down at where his fender had been shot with that nasty, painful device. It had been repaired, but it left a pretty big scar. Acer looked at it and grimaced; his own scar still stung with pain when he thought about what he did to himself. Only Grem got his scar from Mystery.

"Okay, well maybe he won't do that." Acer said hopefully when he looked at their scars. "It's not like we're doubting him, right?"

"No, we aren't." Grem had an unsure edge in his voice.

"I hear that tone of yours, Grem." Acer nudged him forward. "Let's go, I know you want to see it as much as I do~" Acer had a slight singsong tone.

"Oh alright, I'll go, I'll go." Grem opened the door, checked to make sure no one was coming, then darted out with Acer behind him. They went to the end of the hall and slipped into the forbidden door without trouble, for that being the door was unlocked now. It had been locked when Tubbs tried to enter it earlier.

"Haha! We got in!" Acer triumphed.

"Not quite. Keep your voice down and move quickly!" Grem pushed his front against Acer's rear and shoved him forward. They went to the end of the hall, opened the door on the right side and saw…

…a small machine that looked nothing like what they were hoping for.

"What is that dinky thing?" Acer whispered.

"Looks like a wannabe death ray." Grem frowned. The thing looked almost completed, but it was still too tiny to be anything significant. It was even smaller than the EMP gun disguised as a camera. It looked like a small square pillar, made of many intricate parts. The base of it was wide with clamps on it, so it appeared as though it could attach to something. The pointed top of it looked like it was missing something.

"What do you think it is?" Acer whispered.

"Nothing worthy of being kept a big secret, that's for sure." Grem's eyes searched around the edges of the room, which were lined with tables. Parts adorned the tops of them, along with black oil smudges everywhere. There were drawing boards with Professor Z's unmistakable tirewriting and drawings, all for weapons to be built. Grem and Acer recognized most of the blueprints for the weapons, but some were new. "Hey, what do you think that is?" Grem was looking at a small box-shaped device in the corner. It was the only completed thing in the room, being a rather simple thing at that. Just a small greenish-grey box with a couple buttons and a dial on the top, completed with a little antenna at one end.

"It almost looks like a transmitting thing." Acer rolled into the room, and Grem cautiously followed. "Hey, that looks familiar." There was a blueprint on the wall that showed a small gun. The writings and drawings around it didn't look like the professor's, so it must have been…

"Mystery's nasty torture device." Grem realized. "We can finally build our own if we take it."

"Yeah, maybe." Acer was circling the machine in the middle of the room. "If only we could figure out what this thing is, then we could determine whether or not you were right, Grem."

"But it doesn't look like it'll do anything to alter vehicles…" said Grem almost sadly, inspecting it.

"And I don't know how this thing would brainwash anybody…" Acer was trying to see if there was an inside to it from the top, but it was just at his eye level.

"That's where you're wrong, Ace." The two Lemons knew they had been caught and didn't dare look at the door. "I thought I heard voices echoing down this hall." That time, they looked terrified at each other, then slowly turned and saw Mystery with Zündapp behind him. Mystery rolled into the room, still unseeable, shaking his hood. "You know, if you're going to sneak into a forbidden room, at least close the door before you start talking."

"Close the door?" Grem repeated in a squeak, too nervous about being caught to say anything else.

"Um, yeah. That's what I would do if my leader had a room marked 'Do Not Enter'." Mystery's tone was almost comical, like he was trying not to laugh.

"Wait, aren't we in trouble?" Acer gulped, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"Of course not." Mystery shocked the two with his answer.

"But we entered without permission and saw the machine you don't want anyone to see yet." Grem sputtered. Mystery's blood red eyes practically sparkled.

"Yes, you did. And I never knew I had a couple of Lemons as brave as you two. I could kill you both right here, right now, and nobody would remember you." he said nonchalantly.

"No one would remember us? How?" Grem asked, but Mystery just brushed it off.

"I have my ways. But I'm not gonna kill you because I'm glad someone was brave enough to come in here. You all know how dangerous I am, but yet you still came in here." he stated. "That just shows how fearless you are, and how useful that will be later." Grem and Acer just looked at each other.

"Nice to know we're just gonna be used, but okay." Acer mumbled. "Now, you said I was wrong about this machine not being a brainwashing device?"

"That, you were wrong about." said Zündapp. "It IS for mind controlling and brainwashing in a way, but that 'way' is far different from just mere brainwashing. The machine is also incomplete in a small way."

"Mind control? Whoa, are we gonna use it on someone?!" Acer asked excitedly.

"Can we test it on Acer?" Grem mumbled.

"Hey! I heard that!"

"And I don't care."

"Now, now, you two." scolded Zündapp. "We won't be using it on anyone here, but we will be using it worldwide when it is ready. It's not ready for that yet."

"So, when will it be complete?" Grem quizzed. "To use worldwide, I mean."

"When I can get the last piece for it. We can only use it on vehicles who are close at the moment. I need a transmitter so that we can, ahem, 'bring out' cars in a larger range." Zündapp explained, looking a little proud of what he had built.

"A transmitter like that?" Acer pointed to the little device with the antenna-like probe on the end.

"Similar, but a little bigger." Professor Z nodded.

"What even is that thing?" Grem asked.

"That, my friend, is a dream manipulator." Mystery announced. "My father built that for me before he died when I told him my dream for the future, which indeed, is my plan now. He was a very, very gifted scientist." Grem looked at him with a raised frame.

"And judging by how your plan seems evil, I'm guessing you don't come from a very nice line of cars." he noted. Mystery grinned.

"Nope. Not at all." he confirmed. "But that can be blamed on my father. I suppose I would be very different if I had been raised differently." Mystery turned away. "And if he hadn't done anything to me." he whispered under his breath.

"So, a dream manipulator, huh? What's it do?" Acer asked curiously.

"You program it. You just put into it what you want someone to dream about, like a nightmare or good dream using the dial, and get close to them. Then, you press one of the buttons on it and it sends a little wave of energy to the victim that stimulates their mind into dreaming about a nightmare or good dream. The yellow button sends the signal to the victim's mind to use real-life vehicles they are close to based on memories, while the white button makes their mind use anybody fictional or real." Mystery explained. "It works on sleeping or awake vehicles. I used it on someone this year, just to give her a warning."

"Who did you use it on?" pondered Grem.

"You should recall a car by the name of Holley Shiftwell, right?" Mystery asked. "I programmed the device to give her a nightmare about her partner, Finn McMissile." Mystery's almost unseeable expression fell, when he practically spat Finn's name. "I also included that tow truck in it, whom I believe is her lover. If he is, then this machine shall be used on him. In case you're wondering how I made her have a nightmare about those two specifically, I did some extra tweaking to the machine."

"Wow. What exactly did you make her dream about? If your extra tweaking included being able to directly control and write-out dreams, that is." Acer asked.

"And it does. I can write out dreams like code for a computer, but I can't further control them. And it was about that tow truck going to kill her, and Finn wasn't stopping him." Mystery told the two Lemons. "Just a small warning for what's to come." He looked at Grem and Acer and gestured to the incomplete machine in the middle of the room. "Now you know what this machine is. A mind controlling and brainwashing device that doesn't actually brainwash, but it does alter vehicles. Are you both satisfied?" Only Acer nodded his hood.

"Well, almost." Grem was a little scared to ask. "Acer and I, um, were kinda, uh, poking around in a room and we discovered some things." he said, hoping to not get in trouble for snooping. Lucky for them, they did not.

"Oh, did I forget to lock that door?" Mystery seemingly asked himself.

"You know what room we found?"

"Yes. The only one down that one hall that's not empty." Mystery chuckled. "You don't know how many times I went down that hall to find someone trying to get in that room. They fled every time. Am I that scary?" Grem rolled back slightly.

"Kinda." he said truthfully. "So, what were all those papers from? We guessed scientists who tried to brainwash vehicles, then started modifying their bodies."

"You two are very good at guessing." Mystery rolled over to the door and turned to look at them. "Because you are very correct."

"We are?" asked Acer, happily. "Haha, Grem! Our results from two hours of figuring were correct!"

"It took you two hours to figure out just that?" Zündapp said, shocked. "Now remind me why I trust you both to carry out tasks…" he muttered.

"Well Zündapp, they are smart in some ways, you have to give them that." Mystery interjected. "It took you three to figure it out." Zündapp's gaze looked at all three vehicles. Grem and Acer looked proud of themselves.

"It was two in the morning. I was tired, remember?" argued Zündapp a little fast.

"Sure you were." Acer said with some doubt. "So, what was the goal of these scientists, Mystery?" The unseeable vehicle shook his hood.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that just yet." he declined answering. "When I tell you two my plan, it'll involve what these scientists were up to. And I want to tell everyone my plan at the same time." Mystery made a 'come here' motion with his tire. Grem and Acer rolled towards him and out of the room with him. Mystery shut the door, leaving Zündapp behind.

"So, I know you've been asked this countless times, but when will we know?" Grem hoped he wouldn't annoy his leader.

"When the time has come. And you're lucky it'll be soon." The two Lemons followed Mystery down the hall and out the door, where they discovered a small group of Lemons by the room with the strange stuff. Every one of them looked at Mystery fearfully when they noticed him.

"Oh, h-hello Mystery, sir!" Tyler Gremlin spoke up, eyes wide. "We were just, this door was unlocked and, we took a break from weapon making and went down… Tubbs told us and brought us down here!"

"Yeah, don't blame us!" Curby said defensively. There were a few more nervous explanations until Tubbs came out of the room.

"What are all you going on about out here?" He looked to the left and saw Mystery. "Oh…"

"I guess I really did forget to lock that door…" Mystery mumbled to himself. "Go on, get outta here! Back to work!" he barked at them.

"But sir, we went in there without your permission." Alex was trembling.

"Obviously you did." Mystery turned towards the Hugo, throwing his weight to one side exaggeratedly. "But as shocked as you may be, I actually don't care. I'll explain everything you found in there later. Now go back to your stations!" Every vehicle scrambled to get away, afraid of what might happen if they stayed. "You two go as well." Mystery told Grem and Acer. "Make sure no one else gets in there."

"Yes, sir." the Gremlin and Pacer said at once. They took off without another word. Mystery went into the room, shining his headlights on the boxes of papers.

"Well, they sure did go through everything." he noted, seeing the scientist notes on the ground in a timeline of events. "Hey, they did the work for me." Mystery grinned as his eyes went through the papers. He was looking for a specific one; a paper about a C.H.R.O.M.E. agent. It was the second to last note on the line. He picked it up, reading it and seeing that this particular agent escaped alive and with the machine. "Hmm." was all he said. The last note on the timeline also caught his eye. "The test subject was stolen and Sylavere was killed. Interesting." Mystery mused. He picked up a few others that caught his eye, like the note of the last attempt to brainwash, and left.

Once he was back in his office, he studied the notes. Mystery was sure he had found the one he was looking for, but he was unsure which note it was. He knew it was a C.H.R.O.M.E. agent who did it because he was angry from being experimented on, and Mystery had an idea of who it was. However, he still wasn't entirely sure since there must have been a second agent involved, too. But only one of the notes actually said its subject was one of C.H.R.O.M.E.'s spies who was experimented on. It even said the subject was capable of losing his mind, which led Mystery to believe there must have been another agent captured. But he couldn't find anywhere on any other note that had a C.H.R.O.M.E. agent as the subject. Even the note with the added-on part of Sylavere getting killed had no specification of who killed him.

"Why didn't they write the vehicle's name on the paper instead of labeling them with letters and numbers?" Mystery hissed through his teeth. "There must have been another C.H.R.O.M.E. agent captured, but only one note specifies there was one caught. I know what he did, but the note saying when Sylavere was killed doesn't say who did it! What makes it worse is that both notes are for different agents, but they both describe him perfectly! Whoever wrote these notes did a horrible job of being specific…" But then again, these notes were never meant to be seen by anyone other than the scientists from years ago, so of course they weren't going to be explained thoroughly. Days and days went by, and the longer Mystery spent trying to decipher the notes, the more confusing it got. Grem and Acer were of no help; they had no idea of anything except what the scientists did, but only in a nutshell. Even the professor couldn't be sure. Eventually one day, Mystery just gave up for the time being and sighed heavily at his desk. His eyes looked over to a framed picture of a white van with eerily dark red eyes, yet a professional smile. "This is harder than I thought it was gonna be, just to be sure of one vehicle." Mystery said to it. "But I guess I can be sure of that later, after my plan is put into full action." Over at the door to his office, there was a knock. "Yes?" Mystery called. Zündapp opened the door and poked his front in.

"The machine is ready, sir." he announced, smiling evilly. "Only for close range, though." Mystery returned the grin.

"Perfect." he growled happily.

"To C.H.R.O.M.E.'s base now?" Zündapp suggested.

"Not yet. I still have to keep my promise. Would you like to tell them the plan?" Mystery offered.

"I think you should have the honors of exciting them, sir."

"Well, you can go tell them it's time. I will be out there soon." Zündapp nodded and disappeared, letting the door close with a small _click_. Mystery got up and stretched his stiff axles, as he had been sitting for a long time. Stealing one last glance at the framed picture, he smiled. "Well dad, here goes nothing."

And Mystery left to tell the Lemons his plan, and to cause havoc for C.H.R.O.M.E. one last time…

* * *

 ** _Well, was any of that confusing? I understand what's going on and know the underlying cause for everything, but I feel like this chapter was just a mess to you all. I apologize if it was; I do promise on my life that everything will make sense later!_**

 ** _So apparently a C.H.R.O.M.E. agent was captured by these scientists to be experimented on. The agent did something that Mystery knows about, but he's not sure who the agent was. Each note describes a single vehicle who was experimented on, but two different notes describe this certain agent exactly. That's why Mystery is super confused, if that makes sense. Two seperate vehicles, but only one is identified as a C.H.R.O.M.E. agent, and both notes describe this particular agent perfectly. What were these scientists trying to accomplish? What is this great plan of Mystery's? Who was this agent, and what did he do? What will happen in the next chapter? Find out next time on Dragon Ball, I mean, The Way They Seem! (Just think, if only there was a Dragon Ball Cars hahaha)_**

 ** _This chapter was pretty fun to write. In this one, I was able to delve a little deeper into the root of the story, but it was so hard to not give away anything that is a plot twist later! Gosh, I seriously cannot wait to write the shocking parts of this tale! I got so many good ideas while writing this, and I've added to the bonus chapter._**

 ** _Oh, and fun fact: Sylavere is a name I made up. It's a bad mispronunciation of the name 'Sylvere'. But I thought it sounded kinda cool XD._**

 ** _Chapter 8 is started, and like this one, I don't know how long it'll take me to write it. I hope not that long, so stay tuned for another exciting chapter in The Way They Seem! At least, I hope this tale is exciting to you. I don't know because I'm the writer, not the reader lol._**

 ** _Reviews? :3 Zey make me happy so I can have inspiration and I love hearing your feedback! Unless it's hate, but nobody particularly likes hate, anyway. I will take helpful critique, not hateful critique! Leave a review and let me know what you think if you want to!_**

 ** _See y'all later!_**


	9. Eight

**_Okay, so you know how a lot of the characters in my story seem like big sweethearts and NOT killers? Yeah...about that and this chapter..._**

 ** _Alright! I'm back with another chapter that's over 9,000 words! Unfortunately not 9,001 exactly, but it's still OVER 9,000! Also, did you like the new cover I put on my story? I drew it myself because the last one didn't seem right for this fic. Also, up until Royy comes into this chapter I kind of got bored, sped through it and didn't really know what to do. You might be able to tell._**

 ** _justuslogan225, Here it is! The lemons are in this chapter, but it's not completely about them. Hope you still like it! I did the previous chapter for you because you wanted the lemons._**

 ** _Little Feathered Flame, Oh my gosh I LOVE how you worded that! "Is this the calm before the storm?" is probably one of the best things I have ever read! (Too bad this isn't a Cars 3 fic lol) Yes, that last chapter was exactly that. I'm glad it answered questions for you in case you were confused about stuff. The last sentence gave you chills? Ooh, I've never written something that did that to someone!_**

 ** _Britishlover123, I do apologize if it was confusing at first. I'm sorry you had to read it a second time for it to make sense! Don't worry, I'll try to not make any more confusing chapters in the future!_**

 ** _PASTAAAAA, Aww, thank you so much for that! You help inspire me to write more!_**

 ** _AceAttorneyFantic, Nah, I don't have writer's block anymore, m8. Here's the next chapter for ya!_**

 ** _lolbit, Thank you so much for the fave, follow and review! Oh, don't die on me now! The next chapter is up! I'm glad you like how detailed my story is._**

 ** _Thank you all for your reviews; I probably would have been too lazy to finish now if I didn't get anyone telling me to upload! I hope everyone is liking it so far; this chapter is where the story takes a turn, and you can probably guess what's going to happen. I wrote a part of this for kailaangel42 since Duchess is her car in real life and she created the Raoul/Duchess ship. I had fun writing that part, but I got a little dark because the events that happen right after..._**

 ** _Enough of that, now you may enjoy~_**

* * *

 _ **Eight**_

"This sure is exciting." Jeff commented to Lewis once all the WGP Racers were gathered in the Training Academy. There were several C.H.R.O.M.E. agents there with them, and even Chick Hicks was there too. They were all waiting to be informed on what to do. Finn and Holley were the only ones who knew the most of what was going on.

"I don't know whether to be excited or nervous." Lewis admitted. "I've never been here before."

"You'll have fun. We got to train with the spies in these simulations using weapons." said Jeff eagerly, like he was excited to do it again.

"Weapons?"

"Yeah. No one got killed or damaged of course, but it does hurt."

"Great."

Just then, the door opened. It was Duchess followed by quite a few cars. They were everyone from Radiator Springs, except Lizzie and Red.

"I gathered everyone from Springs like you asked, Finn." Duchess announced. "And a few others who say they are excellent at being stealthy." As if on cue…

"Wow! This place seems bigger than I remember!" DJ's loud voice came echoing through when he drove into the room. There was a large sneeze, and suddenly Snot Rod shot into view. Bright green neon lights lit up the tunnel and Wingo appeared with all his flashy decals, which were loud without making a sound. A whine of a turbo engine sounded, and a noisy voice called out.

"Hey, wait up!" Boost sped into the room, stopping in front of his friends. "Y'all took off before I could get into the doors!" The four Tuners started yakking at each other, then quieted down when they noticed all eyes in the room, which was a lot, were on them.

"Right. 'Stealthy'." joked Chick, his voice echoing in the sudden silence. "So, what now?"

"Well since the Lemons discovered our headquarters location," Finn began, eyeing Chick. "we have decided it would be best to prepare for another surprise attack."

"Hey, don't look at me like that! It's not my fault those cars used some sort of memory extractor on me to find out the location of this place." Chick said, irritated. "I wasn't telling them where it was, which is why they did that."

"But you got caught. I thought you were 'Thunder', or so I've heard." Finn deadpanned, unimpressed.

"I'm… retired now." Chick said quietly.

"But once a racecar, always a racecar." Finn sighed, wondering if it was a good idea to keep Chick or send him back to America. "But like I was saying, when the Lemons attacked our base, that was an unexpected attack. We can't have another one of those, especially since they took quite a few lives. We need more vehicles to help, and that is why all of you are here. Most of you have been here before when Mater invited you to train in these simulations. But I don't think I've ever met you before, Number 123." Finn looked over to Lightning who had a red Piston Cup racer, with 'No Stall' written on his hood, next to him. The No Stall car smiled shyly when all the attention was on him.

"Oh, this is my Piston Cup friend, Todd Marcus." Lightning introduced. "Don't worry Finn, he's a trusted friend."

"Hey, the more help, the better." Finn smiled. "Glad to see you here to help, Mr. Marcus."

"I've never been here before, so I guess I'm glad to be here." Todd was pretty shy in his talking, yet likeable. "I was visiting Lightning and training with him when we were all asked to come here. I was more dragged along than willing, but I don't mind. Lightning was telling me all about this place on the way here, so it sounds like a lot of fun!"

"Well Todd, as fun as it may be, just remember there's a serious reason why you're here." Finn reminded. "These Lemons may be fall-apart-junk-on-wheels, but they are smarter than you'd think. And now that they've got vehicles who are like us with them, we have to step up our game."

"And that's where we come in?" asked Sally.

"Yes." Finn's eyes scanned over everyone. "The most of you who have been here before, you may go ahead and train. The ones who never trained or been here before, you will learn." Finn nodded over to Holley, who was at the controls. She did a few things, and soon enough the simulator room next to them looked like a training ground. Everyone was startled when weapons popped out of their sides or rims.

"The simulator has given everyone weapons for this first session." Holley announced. "This is not a battle race, but just a regular every car for themselves battle. It's to see how many of you need the most work practicing with your guns or aiming skills."

"So, how will you know who needs work? Ramone's not gonna need any work, that's for sure." the Impala seemed very confident in himself.

"Only if you can stay in the game." Holley challenged, smiling. "When you get shot fatally, you'll just disappear. It's just like the races and battle races we did earlier this year, except you'll reappear out here instead of on the field again."

"And all who get out the fastest will be the ones who need work?" Lewis guessed. "Because I'm sure I'll be among the first."

"Precisely. And you never know how you'll do once you're out there." Holley told the Brit. She looked at everybody before opening the door and starting the battle. "Okay everyone," She opened the door and quickly sped into the room. "let's train!"

And so they trained. It started out pretty tame, with the battleground being the Lemons' entire Oil Rig. At first, no one wanted to shoot each other since everyone was friends. But that all changed when Finn left and did something to everyone. Just like what Mater and himself are equipped with, Finn turned on the voice-activated disguise gadget in the simulator.

"Computer, randomly disguise everyone as a Hugo, Trunkov, Gremlin, and Pacer." he ordered it. From his perch at the controls, Finn looked through the window as everyone was suddenly enveloped in a disguise. Several screams of surprise rang out from below when the trainees saw themselves. Finn chuckled when two "Hugos" ran front-first into each other, then screamed and sideswiped each other. "This'll be interesting watching them learn…" Finn chuckled. "Computer, disguise me as a Janus Zündapp." Where there was a beautiful, silvery-blue Faultless, now stood an ugly, pale-yellow Janus Zündapp with a British accent. "Blegh, I look horrible!" Finn exclaimed disgustedly when he saw his reflection in the window. He turned and was about to go into the simulator room but was stopped by two cars appearing in front of him. They were the same two "Hugos" that ran into each other. Apparently, they had also shot one another by accident when they sideswiped. By the sound of their voices, one was male and the other was female.

"Ohh, vhat an odd feeling…" the male "Hugo" groaned.

"You're telling me, honey…" the female one mumbled.

"I guess ve are out. Und your disguise did not come off."

"Neither did yours." Both went silent when they saw Zündapp Finn. "Which one are you?" the female asked.

"The one who put the disguises on you all." Finn let himself be identified by his voice. "You two are going to need work, Max and Flo."

"I do not need practice! Vhen I looked at myself und saw that I vas a Hugo, I freaked. Ve all did." Max objected and explained.

"Same here, honey. Max and I ran into and accidentally shot each other." added Flo. Finn smiled, amused.

"I know. I saw it all from up here." he said, sounding like he wanted to laugh at them. "We will be doing another one of these so everybody should be prepared for the next one. And you two may have a chance to redeem yourselves." Finn then left them to watch what was to unfold.

"I better redeem myself…" Max grumbled. He looked at the missile launcher attached to his side. "Who knew you could shoot these things by accident, just by being startled?"

"I didn't know either." Flo said. "But what I do want to know is how do we get these ugly disguises off? I'm a show girl, not a Hugo girl!"

"Heh, 'Hugh-go girl'." Max snickered. "More like 'Flo the hugh-don't-go girl'." He paused. "That vas a horrible pun."

"But the truth, honey. Lemons hardly work right."

"But ve are not Lemons."

"Exactly why I want to get out of this Hugo body!" Flo exclaimed in a huff, not intending for the computer to hear.

 _"Voice not recognized. Request denied."_ it refused.

"Of course."

"I do not think it vould take my voice either." Max guessed. "Only the spies can control it."

"Why is it even voice activated?" Flo asked, unamused.

"Everything is voice activated now. Have you not heard?" Flo cut her eyes towards Max.

"Yes, I've heard. Mater told us all about it." she said rather monotoned. They drove up to the window and looked into the simulator room, to see who was next to fail.

Down below, it was starting to get competitive as no one knew who was who. Everyone who had been there before was a little out of practice, but slowly they picked each other off until there was one last car standing. The last one standing shocked them all.

"Okay… Who are we missing?" the yellow "Zündapp" asked the group when everyone was out. All the "Lemons" who were gathered in front of him looked at each other.

"It's kinda hard to tell who's missing." a Pacer with Lightning's voice pointed out. "You turned us all into these junk heaps."

"Yeah, Finn why did you do that?" That Hugo with Holley's voice didn't sound exactly pleased.

"I had to. No one was attacking each other, so I put disguises on all of you. None of you knew who was who, so you didn't know who your friends became." Finn began explaining. "Then you could shoot each other without feeling bad about it." A collection of the dragged-out sound 'oh' washed over the entire group as they nodded, understanding what happened. "Which I don't understand, since most of you practically killed each other when we were racing a while back…" he added, but no one heard.

"But who's still out there?" Rip's voice asked from somewhere in the crowd. Everyone's attention went to the windows, where they saw a lone "Gremlin". They were driving around, looking to see if anyone else was left. That was when Finn turned off the simulation and took the disguise off whoever it was. To everyone's surprise, it was Todd Marcus.

"Hey, where is everybody? Did I kill everyone?" Todd called out. He looked down at his hood. "Hey, I'm back to normal! Is the game over?" The door to the simulation room opened and all the "Lemons" came out.

"Yes Todd, and you were the last one standing." a yellow Zündapp with Finn's voice announced to him.

"You were the Zündapp, Finn? And wow, I guess I really was the last one out here." Todd said, sounding impressed at himself.

"But was it by accident, or did you actually take out everyone?" Holley's voice questioned.

"Well, I know I took out a few… But I think most everyone accidentally killed themselves." Todd admitted.

"Which is why we are going to do this multiple time so everyone is more prepared and learns weapons practice." The Hugo Holley rolled up to where the "Zündapp" was standing. "And are we still going to have these disguises, Finn?"

"I suppose so. Considering we are going to be against Lemons anyway, I think we can keep these on. Does anyone mind?" Finn asked out loud. There were a bunch of 'no's' and 'I think it's fine's', so they left the disguises alone. Nobody seemed to mind, except Max and Flo. They were still next to each other, so they knew which Hugo to give a 'you've got to be kidding me' look to.

They all went out a second time, and that time lasted longer. No one got out almost immediately, and the competitiveness rose. The last one standing in that competition was Guido, who happily taunted everyone in Italian.

After the first week, everyone was given an invisible shield. The shield was to protect them from major damage. However, if it were to take repeated hits, it would deactivate and have to recharge. When everyone was fitted with a shield, Finn had to tell them something very important. None of them were killers, but when it came to the Lemons, do away with them. Of course, none of them were fond of the idea of killing. But since the Lemons had broken into C.H.R.O.M.E. and killed many innocent lives just to steal a book, they all knew what they would have to do. The Radiator Springs gang, WGP Racers, Tuner Cars, and the other new and recovered C.H.R.O.M.E. agents knew these Lemons were murderers with evil intentions. They all accepted the fact they might have to take some lives, or else worse consequences were surely inevitable. As the weeks went by, they continued to train more, perfecting their skills and becoming near perfect agents. They got so good that even the director of C.H.R.O.M.E. talked to Finn about recruiting some of the trainees during a high-speed training session.

"Some of these vehicles you invited sure are proving themselves worthy of being agents." commented Royy when he found Finn in the simulator control room. He had just been updating all their background checks. All the trainees had been quickly background checked as soon as Duchess had fetched them, but during the weeks they had been there, they were all now thoroughly and deeply checked.

"You know, they're only here to help us take down the Lemons when they attack again, right?" Finn reminded the director. "They can't stay with us forever."

"I know." nodded the Rolls Royce, eyes trained on the sheriff from Radiator Springs as he drove backwards, firing at everyone behind him while dodging the bullets and missiles aimed at him. Sheriff weaved out of the way, quite gracefully for being 1949 model, and jumped over a roadblock to turn himself back around. Very impressive. "And that is a shame. We could use cars like them to work for C.H.R.O.M.E. and be agents."

"Well, they have busy lives of their own that would prevent them from being with us. But I'm sure they will never forget their training here." Finn guaranteed. "Besides, if we're ever in trouble, we could give them a call and have them all come back. They're proving to be very helpful and fearless." Finn's small smile fell. _"Perhaps TOO helpful and fearless…"_ he thought.

"Especially with those racers." Royy nodded in agreement. "They're pretty much spread all over the world, so no matter what we always have those extra spy-trained eyes on global lookout. Plus another helping tire to call on if a mission has us go to one of their countries." At that moment, the door to the control room opened, and in came a familiar car.

"Ah, speaking of help." Finn changed the subject, turning around. "I was wondering when you were going to show up, Agent Silver Blaze." The Malibu rolled her violet eyes.

"I would have been here sooner if security had let me in when I showed up the first time." Silver complained in a bored tone. "Royy, did you not tell them I was on my way because Finn called?"

"I must have forgotten…" he admitted.

"Getting old, Royy?" Finn joked. "You're sounding like your father before he retired and made you the director. Forgetting things."

"Well I've been busy lately! All those damages were quite expensive, and of course who has to take care of the bills?"

"Still doesn't excuse you forgetting to tell security that an American agent was on her way." Silver poked.

"Sorry I can't do everything all at once." Royy said with an annoyed tone, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You all continue preparing for another surprise attack or attacking the Lemons before they do that. I've probably got more paperwork and bills waiting for me in my office." He rolled out and disappeared when the door closed.

"So, how's everyone doing?" Silver wondered.

"They're doing a battle race right now, practicing shooting moving targets on the run." Finn replied. "At first they weren't that great, but now they are doing excellently, I should say. In fact, Royy was talking to me about recruiting some of them as agents before you came in." Silver pulled up to the window and watched as everyone sped by.

"Really? Dang, they must be extremely good, then." she mumbled, yet she was impressed. "Can I join them?"

"Why do you think I called you over here?"

Once that race was over, Silver joined them. Being such a pretty car herself, she did catch the flirtatious eye of some of the males but ignored them. Or should it be said, she ignored all but one. When Wingo tried talking to her, it was going well until he tried flirting. She brushed him off and told him she was taken by someone. Or did she actually have her eyes set on a different someone instead? Because of all that flirty attention, Silver mostly hung around the girls. And one of the girls noticed how Silver brushed off the guys, so she tried it herself on a certain someone.

Duchess tried to avoid Raoul as much as possible. She constantly brushed him off when he tried speaking to her, even if it wasn't about how beautiful she was. The conversation with Carla about being strong, independent, and needing no man always lingered in Duchess's mind. She really didn't need to be in love, right? After all, being a spy was a huge part of her life, even if she belonged to no organization. The Elantra had to be careful with these thoughts, as they would constantly pop up in her mind during battle racing or hunting mode. She got distracted pretty easily to the point where she was an easy target for everyone.

"ACK! Hey!" Duchess yelled when she felt her back end fly up into the air along with the rest of her.

"A missile, to keep you company!~" Miguel taunted as he flew by her. As he drifted around the simulated Willy's Butte, he gave her a teasing smile. Duchess gave a determined grin and waited for the simulator to put her back on the track since she got flipped upside down. They were racing on _Canyon Run_ , a track based off of Carburetor County. Duchess felt a weird tingling sensation turn into an even stranger feeling of shutting down, and her entire body disappeared into blue outlines. She reappeared, perfectly fine.

 _"I'll never get used to simulator deaths…"_ she thought, accelerating forward until she came across weapon pickups. She drifted around Willy's Butte and found Troika Missiles. "Perfect…" she whispered to herself, bolting forward and getting the triple missile packs on her sides. Duchess zoomed off to find Miguel and get back at him. Using her turbo, she shot forward at an exhilarating speed, and soon enough came upon the Spaniard. She wasted no time blasting him.

"Oh, that was nasty…" Miguel hissed, glaring as the Elantra went by.

"Payback!" she yelled and shot another car.

"Whoa! Watch it, pal!" Chick yelled, although he landed on all four tires. He instantly used his turbo and sped after her. "Where do ya think you're goin'?! Huh?!" He side-bashed Duchess when he caught up to her.

"Away from you!" Duchess panicked and took off even faster.

"That's right, you better run!" Chick called after her, then realized that even though it was training, the goal was to come in first to show advancements in skill. That would put them in harder simulations and better their training. "Hey, wait! You're supposed to be behind me!"

"Not happening!" Duchess yelled and drifted around a corner. She didn't even notice Raoul had caught up to her.

"Hello, my lady." he greeted smoothly. Duchess rolled her eyes.

"Hello to you too, rally car." she half-heartedly returned the greeting. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nozhing." He leapt over a blue and white road blocker, doing an impressive flip over it. "Just here to race."

"If you're trying to impress me, you can just stop now." Duchess said, beginning to get irritated (not really). "You've been doing this for like, three months now. I'm not interested."

"Did I say you were?" Raoul threw out the question with some snappiness. Duchess suddenly felt smaller, definitely not expecting _that_ as his response.

"Umm, no… But still, how you're acting around me makes it look like you're trying to get my attention." Duchess jumped up onto a ledge while launching her last two missiles. They hit Nigel.

"Hey, watch it, mate!" he yelled.

"Nah, I won't!" Duchess called to him. She turned her attention back to Raoul, easing her tone more. "And not only are you showing off, but you also talk to me in flirty ways!"

"Maybe I do." Raoul admitted, easing his tone as well. He shot Sheriff with a Machine Gun.

"You're lucky I don't pull you over!" the Mercury shouted.

"Perhaps _you_ are lucky you do not have to!" Raoul shouted back. He lowered his voice. "Or maybe I am just being nice to you, Duchess." He looked at her with a serious expression. "I want you to zhink back to when you first met me."

"Why?"

"Just remember how you acted." Raoul turned from her and used his turbo. "My speed is frightening, I know!" he exclaimed, leaving her behind.

Duchess couldn't catch up to him. Once the race ended with Lightning placing first, Duchess ran off, not noticing someone was following her.

"Duchess?" Carla's voice came from behind her.

"Oh, hi, Carla." Duchess said quietly. "I'm just avoiding someone and thinking about something."

"I know. It is Raoul, right?" Carla guessed. Duchess nodded.

"I'm just thinking about what you and I talked about. How we don't need a man because we're too busy with other things." she recalled.

"So, what is the problem? Does it have to do with that?"

"Yes. The problem is that I'm in love with Raoul, I have been since I first laid eyes on him, and I don't know what to do. I've lied repeatedly to myself that I don't love him because I don't want to get attached, plus I'm a spy." Duchess sighed. "But he's been so nice to me, he's showed me almost all his tricks, he's very handsome, very kind, and very irresistible!" Carla only smiled.

"Then go for him." she suggested.

"You're being serious?" Duchess looked at the Brazilian, shocked.

"Yes. He is one of my good friends and I have talked to him about you. He told me that he is very much in love with you and will not stop at anything until you are his." Carla spilled the secret. "Just by looking at you, I can tell you feel the same way about him as he feels about you. Forget about that conversation and anything else we talked about, and go for him."

"But I'm a spy. I can't stay with him since I'm everywhere." Duchess said.

"Aye, but look at Holley. She is with Mater and she is a spy."

"But Holley belongs to an organization. It's not like she's all over the world sometimes."

"They live in different countries and are still together."

"Okay, but I don't think she can visit him much."

"She visits him as much as he visits her." Carla laughed. "I believe you are just coming up with excuses to avoid admitting you are wrong. Besides, I think you and Raoul would be adorable together."

"You think so?" Duchess's engine was pounding. Maybe she should admit her feelings to him. She glanced over and noticed the rally car was talking with the other racers. He looked up at her and gave her a smirk when he saw her 'unsure of what to do' expression. "Excuse me for a moment. I have to go die in the bathroom." She took off down a hall, and Carla went the other way, deciding to let Raoul handle the situation.

 **...**

"Hm, I wonder where Duchess ran off to?" Raoul wondered aloud to himself. He rolled down the hallway, his icy blue eyes scanning all around him. "I know I saw her go down zis hall…" The rally car drove forward some more and noticed two doors. One had 'Men' and the other had 'Women' written on them. And someone was talking to herself from behind the one that said 'Women'. "Of course, zee bathroom. You chose zee most obvious place to escape to, mon doux…" Raoul mused. He placed himself right next to the door and listened.

"Come on, Duchess, get ahold of yourself." the Elantra told her own reflection. "You do NOT like him. You are NOT in love with Raoul." Duchess was trying so hard to deny herself that she was in love, but it was ultimately not working. She reversed from the mirror and paced back and forth in front of the bathroom stalls, which to her relief were empty. _"But he's so nice and good-looking… Plus he's been trying to get my attention for nearly three months…"_ Duchess shook her hood hard. "Oh, quit thinking that way! I am a SPY! I don't need anyone else to look after other than Lady. Besides, I'm all over the place and he lives in Alsace, France." She turned back to face the mirror and smiled hugely at herself. "Oh who am I kidding? I am in LOVE with that rally racecar!" Duchess admitted rather loudly, dropping her front into the sink. "I can't deny it anymore… And I don't even know how to tell him…"

Outside the door, Raoul pressed himself to the door when Duchess went quiet. A big smile spread along his face when she practically yelled at the mirror that she loved him. "You do not have to tell me, mon amour le plus doux. I already know." he laughed softly to himself.

"Aw, this is so cute!" said a happy voice behind Raoul. He turned to see Carla, looking proud. "Looks like my talking with her finally paid off, no?"

"You have been talking to Duchess?" Raoul asked, wondering what they had been discussing.

"Yes. She has told me the truth. Ever since she saw you, Duchess has been in love. But she repeatedly lied to herself that she did not love you, all because she is a spy and did not think she needed a man." Carla explained, much to Raoul's amusement upon hearing that. "So I told her to forget that and a conversation we had when we first met. Then I told her to go for you."

"Mmmm, I see. Zat is what you told me, too. Have you no other advice?" Raoul inquired, curious. Carla looked to be in thought, though it looked rather mischievous.

"Maybe. But I did not need to use my special advice to convince Duchess to stop denying herself." she said.

"Special advice?"

"Do not worry about it. Or ask." Just then, the bathroom door opened. Duchess came halfway out and went right back in. "I will get her." Carla went in, and about thirty seconds later Duchess came back out with Carla pushing her from behind. Raoul swore on his life he had never before seen an already red vehicle with an even redder face. "You cannot retreat back into the bathroom, or else I will drag you out again." Carla playfully threatened Duchess. "I will leave her to you, now." Carla nodded to Raoul, then drove down the hallway and disappeared around the corner. Duchess looked at Raoul, and by the look on his face, she knew he heard every word she said to herself.

"Um, heh, hi…" she squeaked.

"Oh, you can stop being so shy, now." Raoul said gently. "I already know zee truth."

"Truth? What truth? What are you t-talking about?" Duchess stuttered, reversing to what she thought was the bathroom door. Raoul rolled forward, staring intently into her eyes.

"You know exactly what I am talking about." he corrected with his soft voice. "All zhose times I was trying to impress you, you actually were impressed, no?"

"Maybe… kinda… yes, I was." Duchess admitted with embarrassment, still backing up from the slightly bigger car. When her bumper touched the wall instead of the bathroom door, she froze. Raoul only smirked, knowing he had her right where he wanted her. Three months since they met, no escape for her, and no way to get out of telling the truth to his face. Raoul was quite happy with the situation.

"Mm hm hm hm," he laughed softly when he closed the space between them to ten inches. "It appears I have you now, sweetheart. Do tell me zee truth, please." He said the last part with a light begging tone and looked at her with equally begging eyes. He even batted his eyes and asked please again in a cute tone. Duchess squeezed her eyes shut and was almost too embarrassed by her past actions to admit to him now.

"I… do like you…" she said in a whisper.

"Zat is not exactly what you said in zee bathroom."

"Okay, fine. I do _love_ you, Raoul… You're a very kind car, you're funny, you're impressive with your acrobatic and combat skills, and you're the most handsome vehicle I have ever laid eyes on." Duchess sped through that sentence so fast, even Francesco wouldn't have been able to match that speed. Raoul backed up only a tiny bit, and a little surprised. He was expecting her to say that, but not that fast, and much less even come clean to him.

"Is zat so?" he asked amusedly, the same thing he said when Duchess told him she had a message for him the first time they met.

"Yes… I'm sorry for brushing you off every time you tried to get my attention, and for being rude." Duchess apologized. Her voice was a little shaky, and she spoke quietly while avoiding eye contact.

"It is okay. Why do you seem so afraid to talk to me?" Raoul asked gently. Duchess finally looked into his eyes.

"I honestly thought you were losing interest in me, because of how I was treating you." she said. Raoul only smiled warmly.

"Naw, I could never lose interest in you." he assured with an inward wave of his tire, as if brushing her statement off. "I saw right through your little acts and I knew what you were trying to do. Plus, Carla told me." Duchess's eyes widened a little.

"Carla told you?" she asked, nervous. Well, Raoul definitely knew everything now.

"Yes. She is one of my good friends. In fact, just before she pushed you out of zee bathroom, she told me somezhing."

"What was it?"

"Carla told me zat she had a talk with you about me. Telling you to stop denying yourself, and to go for me." Raoul smiled slyly. "And it looks like you finally took her advice."

"Well, yeah I guess I did." Duchess smiled, embarrassed. "But I thought you lost complete interest in me, which is why I was too afraid to tell you anything."

"But I did not. You are far too beautiful to lose interest in, anyway." Duchess blushed madly and looked down, but her front was lifted by Raoul. Now it was his turn to look red across the hood. He cleared his throat. "I uh, I am single… And I want you, Duchess…"

"I am too." Duchess said without even thinking. "And I…do want to be yours… Will you, um, will you have me?" The nervous tension in the air could have been cut with a knife. Raoul did not answer. Instead, he looked into the Elantra's eyes, and rolled closer. _"_ _Ohmigosh ohmigosh! He's gonna kiss me!"_ Duchess thought frantically. Raoul closed his eyes, so she did the same. Their lips just barely brushed when suddenly…

 ** _RRRRRUMMMBOOOOOOM! RAAAAAAANG! RAAAAAAANG! RAAAAAAANG!_**

The explosion and warning sirens that went off were enough to shake the whole C.H.R.O.M.E. Training Academy. Duchess jumped an entire yard into the air, while Raoul was startled enough to throw himself into reverse and ram into the wall behind him.

" _Sacrébleu_!" cried Raoul. "Quelle le enfer était que?!"

"The Lemons are here!" yelled Carla from behind the corner, who hadn't actually left. Raoul and Duchess only had time to glance at each other before another bomb went off near them. A fairly big piece of hard plaster came flying at the Elantra at an alarming speed.

"Duchess!" Raoul yelled when he saw the trajectory of the plaster. He quickly sped forward and placed himself beside his love to shield her. "AUUUUGH!" he screamed when the plaster slammed into his side, denting him pretty badly. It even broke his left window.

"Raoul! Are you okay?!" Duchess asked frantically.

"Ohhhhh… Yes, I am fine as long as you are, my love…" he groaned with an honest tone. His eye caught a few vehicles emerging from the dust in the direction the plaster piece flew from. "Go, go!" He began nudging Duchess, forcing her to take off towards the opposite end of the hall. Raoul could only catch a glimpse of a few Bentleys, Chevys, and Toyotas before realizing the Lemons really meant business. He took off just as he was shot at.

Out in the front, the Training Academy looked disastrous. It was just an insult to injury that the Lemons had nearly destroyed C.H.R.O.M.E.'s HQ building and were now wrecking the training building. Luckily, everyone had already been equipped with real weapons, so they could fight back. But this attempt at overthrowing the Lemons now would be just as bad as the last attempt. They had exploded through the walls with explosives that were much more powerful than any other regular bomb in existence. Some of the debris that was a result of the explosions were shot through the air at alarming and deadly speeds. Raoul was lucky he survived with only a major side dent and shattered window. Besides explosives, the weapons these Lemons had were unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. They were like upgraded versions of things like rocket launchers and AK-47s, even more powerful than before. Besides those, they also had guns that shot out a circular burst of electricity that zapped anyone within 30 feet of it. They also had miniature flamethrowers, grenade launchers, flashbangs, and smoke bombs. Another thing they had was pure confidence, and they didn't hold back with their attacks…

All Holley remembered was casually talking with Sally, when all her senses were practically muted. A flash and a bang went off that blinded her and made her go deaf for a second, followed by the feeling of metal and plaster chunks falling on her. A small swarm of Lemons flooded in, followed by quite a few newer models of vehicles who weren't Lemons. All around Holley, guns and weapons clicked out as her friends readied themselves to attack. The giant garage door entrance to the Training Academy went up, and a multitude of C.H.R.O.M.E. agents, field and technical, came rushing out. Everyone seemed to be quite occupied with the amount of villains, and that snapped Holley out of her trance. She deployed her guns and readied to shoot.

"There's too many of them!" Sally yelled next to her.

"Cover me on that side, and I'll cover you on this side, then!" Holley ordered. She raised her tire and shot a Pacer that was sneaking up behind Shu. For a horrifying second, Holley forgot if they had turned off the disguise function for everybody in the simulator. What only made the matter worse was that she didn't remember if it was off. She only prayed they had, and who she shot was a real Pacer. Holley and Sally didn't stay next to each other for long, as a piece of the ceiling came crashing down above them. It was when Holley was driving around did she finally see how everyone was handling the situation.

Shu side bashed a white 2011 Ford Ranger XLT, shooting her with a missile and killing her instantly. Although it didn't feel right to him, he knew worse consequences were to come if he didn't fight back and, unfortunately, take some lives.

Lewis was doing some tire-to-tire combat, using his karate moves to take out a couple of Trunkovs. He punched the windshield of one fatally and rammed the other into the wall where an extremely heavy chunk of metal fell on him.

Sheriff seemed to be enjoying the powerful taser he had, zapping a green 2012 Chevy Traverse then shooting him when he was down. Anyone who got near got zapped and killed.

Sally blasted a Hugo in the face before he could shoot her. Well, he shot at her, but she killed him before he could try again.

Rip took out a 2010 red Nissan Maxima by ramming into him and killing him with a missile. He did that with almost every other enemy he came across. His front became quite battered, with a mix of his own blood and every unlucky enemy he had hit.

Nigel led around a Pacer before disappearing around a corner. He reappeared, flooring it and crashing into the Pacer, pushing him backwards into a fire.

Ramone did exactly to a Gremlin as he did to Tubbs in the melee at London, except he had a machine gun in his tire rather than a paint gun. And instead of purple paint, it was blood adorning the face of the Gremlin.

Chick unleashed the 'Thunder' as he had promised when he was captured by the Lemons a while back. He crashed into Lemons and regular evil vehicles alike while blowing them up with missiles.

Max was pretending he was finishing his dream before Otto woke him up. He imagined the Lemons as tiny Waldgeister Monsters and had enough adrenaline to kill them with almost no weapons.

Jeff was cornered by three vehicles. A silver 2009 Dodge Challenger, a Trunkov, and a black 2014 Subaru Impreza were closing in on him. He looked afraid for a second, but then remembered his training and shot the Trunkov and Subaru at the same time with missiles.

Flo took out the Dodge. She came speeding by and drifted around the bodies of the other two, shooting the Challenger in the windshield and peppering her windows with bullets, killing her.

Wingo sped past a Lemon, using his fanned out lower decals to get them under the Lemon's tires, then raising up to knock him over. The Tuner drifted a circle around him, shooting him until he was dead.

Francesco used his high-pitched engine to get the attention of a blue 2005 Acura NSX. The NSX shot him, but only buzzed his spoiler. Francesco glared at him, yelling "You DARE to shoot Francesco?!" while angrily zooming forward and jumping over him, turning in midair to blast the Acura with a missile. Red oil splattered Francesco, making him say "You dare to make a mess on me?"

Fillmore didn't look like he wanted to fight, being a peace-lover and all. But he only hung back until he noticed a Pacer surprise-attacking Mater. Anyone who noticed was shocked to see the hippie rush forward and ram as hard as he could into the Pacer. He was also yelling "You can mess with flower power, but NO ONE messes with my friends with hate as the intention!" He killed that Pacer without hesitation.

Mater was stunned to see Fillmore like that, but since these evil vehicles had attacked C.H.R.O.M.E. and killed many innocent agents, he supposed even the peaceful microbus couldn't stand it either. Mater turned around just in time to see a Gremlin come at him at full speed. The tow truck jumped out of the way, used his hook to pop the Gremlin's hood open, and in one swift motion, ripped out his battery. It was his special move, 'What I Accidentally Did to my Friend, Luigi, Once'. Except Mater slung it back at the Lemon's eyes, busting his windshield and shooting him for good measure.

Raoul drifted gracefully around the whole pack, blasting any unlucky bad guys who got in his way. His acrobatic skills helped him be a difficult moving target as he killed a few Lemons and non-Lemons. He even ripped a fender off a cream-colored 2004 Lincoln Aviator and used that as a makeshift weapon.

Snot Rod was having a hard time with his allergies from the plaster dust. Lucky for him, they weren't in the simulation so his flames from his exhaust pipes actually set cars on fire. He side-bashed Lemons and non-Lemons while revving his engine, setting them ablaze. He only had to shoot one to kill them.

Boost was really loving his missiles. He blasted countless enemies, trying not to care if they died instantly or had an agonizing death. This experience wasn't exactly fun to the Tuner, but it should have been okay since these cars were up to pure, no-good evil and were murderers. Still, that didn't mean it felt right.

Carla had her advantages, being such a beautiful vehicle really distracted some. Whatever model the enemy was, they hesitated before trying to attack. She only got shot once, but instantly took out the blue 2014 Bentley Continental GT who tried to kill her.

Todd never was too keen on the idea of killing the enemies when they arrived, but when his back end was blasted and the Hugo was trying to kill him, his mind was changed. It may have been a lucky shot, but Todd managed to turn around and get the Hugo before he was had.

Sarge used military tactics to take down some. The whole ordeal did not affect him at all since he was in World War II, so he was most likely the most prepared. Both mentally and physically.

Lightning was feeling the adrenaline course through him as the blood dotted him every hit he landed. He sped around and was there to take out Lemons if his friends were getting overtaken.

Duchess was easily taking advantage of the enemies around her. Being a well-trained spy, she certainly knew how to use her weapons to kill the quickest way. Especially when she noticed Miguel had two popped tires and was frantically trying to shoot a Jaguar who most definitely wanted him dead.

Miguel didn't plan on having his left side tires punctured. He had just killed a Trunkov when he felt both left tires pop. He turned just in time to see an angry black and white 2015 Jaguar XF come barreling at him. Miguel yelled in surprise as he desperately tried shooting the truck. He was taken aback when the truck exploded into flames and turned to see Duchess had shot him with a missile. He nodded a 'thanks' at her.

DJ was more of a dancer and partier than he was a secret agent. However, when he saw Raoul was using his acrobatic and drifting skills to take out enemies, he got an idea. DJ quite stylishly and literally blasted Lemons away with his moves.

Silver would have gotten killed if she hadn't been wearing the invisible shield. A blast went off that killed a bunch of vehicles around her, though she couldn't tell if it was just enemies or if there were C.H.R.O.M.E. agents in the blast, too. She went to work right away, getting rid of the Lemons still around her.

Luigi couldn't help but wonder if they were going to make it out alive, or if the Lemons were going to be successful again. After he killed two enemies, he noticed that more and more seemed to be coming. To his shock, it wasn't just a bunch of Lemons and a few random vehicles. No, it was a whole bunch of non-Lemons coming in to join the fight.

Guido noticed that, too. But since no one but Luigi and Francesco could understand him and he couldn't find either of them, he couldn't tell anyone. So instead he did what he does best: Changing tires. Guido had his wrench and went to work with it, taking the tires off enemies before taking them out or letting someone else kill them instead.

Holley was quite impressed with everyone's performance, and just a tiny bit surprised that they weren't hesitant to fight back. In fact, she was a bit afraid for their mental health after this was over. They were all very friendly (maybe except Chick), and not one of them was a killer, that was for sure. They definitely weren't murders either, but these enemies were. The Lemons were bent on killing them all for no reason. Luckily everyone's will to live and fear of death were stronger than their desire to not kill. Holley herself didn't feel too bad about taking the lives of evil cars, but it was still something she wasn't used to. Not like the way Finn was used to it, but he has been a spy longer than Holley has been alive. So of course, it wouldn't bother him. And speaking of Finn, where was he?

 _"Where's my partner?"_ Holley thought. She searched frantically but couldn't see him anywhere. Then out of nowhere, a black 2014 Chevrolet Suburban made eye contact with her. The dents, bullet holes, blood, and evil grin plastered across his face sent a chill through Holley's chassis. He took off to the side so fast, the screech of his tires could be heard over the noise of the fight. The purple spy backed up, trying to keep her focus on the fighting around her while looking for that Chevy. Suddenly, she felt a stinging pain on her right door, and turned to see the Suburban had shot her and was still shooting. Luckily, she still had on her invisible shield to protect her from major damage; she only suffered a bunch of dings. But repeated hits to the shield will weaken it until it deactivates, and it popped as it did so. The loud _pop_ it made when it finally gave out was enough to startle Holley and give the big shadowy black Chevrolet a chance to crash into her. She cried out in pain as she was thrown backwards and slammed into a wall, and it only got worse when the Suburban repeatedly rammed into her. Shakily, Holley aimed her gun at him, but her axle was bent too much to get a good aim. The Suburban backed up to ram again, so she bolted forward, letting him crash into the wall and smash his grille. Growling with a bent grille and bloody mouth, he turned towards her with murder in his eyes. Holley was shocked to see red blotches in his irises. _"Just like Mater and Finn in my dream…"_ she thought. She screamed when the giant vehicle leaped at her, glaring and aiming at her windshield. At that angle of trajectory and being as damaged as she was, there was no way Holley could escape easily.

 _"GET AWAY FROM HER!_ _"_ screamed a familiar voice. Several bullets came flying at the Chevy, throwing him off and making him land, thrashing in pain. There was a flash of silvery blue, and suddenly Finn was standing between his partner and the Suburban. His back end was raised, making himself appear taller, and he was giving the black vehicle a death glare. All his weapons were deployed, and Holley had never seen him like this before. Sure, Finn has always been very protective of her, but she had always thought that was because she was a new field agent. Now Holley was beginning to see how much Finn actually looks out for her.

Her realization was cut short when a blast from Finn announced that he had killed the Suburban, and he quickly turned around and shielded her. A large explosion that came out of nowhere was strong enough to push both spies into the wall. Finn's cry of pain instantly made Holley worried.

"Finn, are you alright?!" she demanded in a frenzy of worry. His invisible shield protected him but had gotten deactivated from the blast. "You didn't have to protect me!"

"Ahhg, y-yes I did…" he strained to say, looking at her with a guilty face.

 _Guilty face?_

Holley had no time to wonder why. A missile exploded close to them, too close to Finn's face, and Holley saw the strained and dazed look in his eyes. He almost looked like he belonged with enemy side. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, extremely worried. Finn looked at her, opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by another explosion and puff of plaster dust. That was when the two were separated. "Finn? FINN?!" Holley cried but heard no response. When the plaster dust cleared, he was gone. In his place were a bunch of enemy vehicles, all looking to kill. Holley took no chances. She shot one in the windshield, hearing his cries of pain as his blood began seeping from the cracked bullet holes. Using her extra-long knife she had recently obtained, Holley sliced through the front of another, cutting straight to their engine. She pulled it from the vehicle's body and launched her last missile at another car, which happened to be a Lemon. She quickly turned and drove back into the chaos, helping as a distraction for her friends. Holley started to worry when she began noticing the amount of familiar car parts scattered about, and the amount of blood puddled everywhere. However, she was relieved to see the only dead vehicles were the enemies and not her immediate friends. Unfortunately, she did see some C.H.R.O.M.E. agents down, and for a split second wondered whose job it was to tell the family of the deceased what happened. She was glad it wasn't her job. Looking around between attacks, Holley saw just about everyone and everything. But what she did not see, was her partner…

 **...**

When that missile exploded in his face, that was it for Finn. The heat from the blast, his vision filling with red and orange, and the pain. Oh, the _pain_ from that small blast was enough to trigger a certain memory in him. Saving his partner's life was the last thing he had done before he lost his mind, and he wouldn't have done a thing to change that. He was so afraid of snapping in front of her, and yet he did. Finn was going to tell her to stay away from him, but the second bomb that went off prevented him from doing so. In fact, that extra explosion was just enough to knock his senses back into him, and he regained himself. But not for long. Finn ran away, driving as fast as he could have possibly gone down a hall, where it was quieter and there were no vehicles around. He braked, slamming himself against the wall and just breathed. Old memories he so desperately tried to forget bombarded him, overwhelming him to the point where he felt he would literally explode.

 ** _The pain…_**

 _"Just gonna take some things. Don't worry, we won't kill you."_

 ** _The scientists…_**

 _"You killed four of my 99 scientists. Do you think you were going to get away with that?"_

 ** _What he was used for…_**

 _"Taking over the world using extreme measures… Who hasn't tried that?"_

 ** _Leaving it behind…_**

 _"I feel bad for leaving it…"_

 ** _What Leland told him after…_**

 _"You should go back and get it."_

 ** _Giving it up…_**

 _"I already miss you…"_

Finn tried so hard to get those faint voices in his head to be quiet. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his hood, backing into a corner. "I…can't…control…it…anymore…" he gasped, struggling and fighting against his own mind. He even struggled to breathe, it was so overwhelming. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see the world all blurry. A solid black mass was directly across from him, a few yards away. Finn blinked, clearing his vision to see the silhouette of a vehicle. The strange thing was, the vehicle looked like a perfect shadow ripped straight from the wall. Except the windshield was glowing white with the most blood-red eyes Finn had ever seen.

"Ah, Agent Finn McMissile. I've been looking for you." the vehicle said.

"Who are you?" Finn managed to ask.

"I am called Mystery by many, and I am here to take you."

"Take me? What do you mean?"

"Take you with me, of course." Mystery said with a tone that made the answer sound like it was supposed to be obvious. He rolled towards Finn, the spy not moving. "I know exactly who you are. And I know your story. It took me some time, but I figured it out."

"My story? What are you talking about?" Finn questioned in short breaths, now rolling forward a bit.

"When you were captured. And _used_." Mystery reminded with a dark tone. "Must have been a real shame, getting taken by science and used for something I know you didn't want." Mystery circled Finn slowly before siding next to him.

"Yeah, it happened. Why do you have interest?" asked Finn lowly and strained.

"Oh, well I'm interested in corrupted vehicles, and I know your mind is corrupted. I'm just surprised you didn't snap sooner." Mystery remarked, unfazed by Finn's tone.

"Something was preventing me."

"Like what?"

"I'll never tell."

"Okay then, I won't bother asking again." Mystery drove forward a bit. "I'm sure you can guess that I'm the leader of this attack and all these Lemons, right?"

"I had a feeling."

"And your feeling was correct." Mystery turned around. "Now, what you probably didn't know was that I'm here to steal one thing." Finn was curious.

"Steal what?" he asked, now regaining his composure slightly. Mystery's mouth curved into a fanged smile.

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes, I want you, the best agent at C.H.R.O.M.E., to join me. I know what you did, and this is the perfect vengeance if you are prisoner to your own insanity and under my command." Mystery waited for a reaction that he thought was going to be negative. Finn's lips curved into a smirk.

"Well, I was wondering when I'd finally get taken." he chuckled. "You don't know how long I've waited to finally snap."

"That's what I like to hear." Mystery said, grinning. "You are like us. Not like them. You might have been like your friends once, but not anymore. You were used. It took too long for them to rescue you." Mystery placed himself directly in front of Finn and lowered his voice to a very sinister tone. "Are you ready to be _where you truly belong_?" Finn closed his eyes.

 _"You are like us…"_

 _"You were used…"_

 ** _"Where you truly belong…"_**

Mystery's voice echoed in his head until it clicked.

And Finn's mind was finally snapped.

He slowly opened his eyes, which were no longer just aqua green, but were now blotched with red as if he had suddenly developed sectoral heterochromia. Mystery smiled when he saw the vibrant pure red mixed with the aqua green, knowing Finn was truly insane now.

"I am ready…" Finn said.

 **...**

The fight was still going on, and it seemed like more and more enemies were spawning out of nowhere. Holley was all battered and beat, with countless dents, scrapes, and bloodstains all along her frame. She was also caught in a heap of ceiling debris when it fell on her, so she couldn't move and no one could help her. Just when she was about to give up, a voice yelled.

"ENOUGH! I have got what I need." shouted a voice no one recognized. A solid black vehicle came out of a hallway with another vehicle beside him. Holley couldn't see well from where she was at, but assumed the black car was the leader of the clan because they all retreated after the announcement. All the Lemons and non-Lemons deployed their weapons, pointing them at all the C.H.R.O.M.E. agents to keep them at bay. The solid black vehicle disappeared behind the group and reappeared in front. He looked extremely bored. "I will make this quick and simple." he announced loudly and in a bored way. "I am Mystery, and I have an evil plan, and you won't be able to stop it. There, I think that was simple enough. I'm the bad guy you're against, you won't stop me, blah blah blah, you get the idea." He smiled evilly. "Good luck." he added and dropped a smoke bomb. It exploded, creating a giant smoky haze so they all could escape without being seen. Well, almost all. Only one was left, and the last one to leave shocked them all…

"Finn?" Holley whispered. She couldn't believe it. Her partner, someone she was close to, was _with the Lemons_? He was looking at everyone with a sinister glare, as if showing off that he had turned. But as soon as he made eye contact with Holley, his expression fell. He blinked and looked at her with regret. Holley noticed that his eyes looked a bit red, but when he looked at her and blinked, the red color faded a bit. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Mystery's voice called to Finn. He left without a word.

Holley sat there, just as shocked as everyone else. Her partner was evil? How long has he been insane? What caused him to be like that? Why did he just now snap? Why did he look at her like he was _sorry_? Many more questions ran through her mind, but only one she pondered on every day until it happened…

 _"Will I ever see him again?"_

She didn't see him again for the next three years.

* * *

 ** _Too much, not enough, or just the right amount of violence? I wonder what the cars would think if they read my story..._**

 ** _Any players of Cars 2: The Videogame? You might recognize some quotes I used._**

 ** _So, how was it? I'm not sure what exactly to do for the next chapter, but I'll come up with something. The chapters after 9, I do have ideas. Don't expect to hear from Finn and the lemons a lot since this story is omniscient POV, but it's mostly centered around Holley. I mean, I will write about the lemons and all, but not as much during these three years where Finn has left with them. And if you remember, right now we are in the past. Chapter 1 and the Prologue were in the present, so when we get back to the present, I'll write more about the lemons. It's a weird, lonely three years before Holley gets to see her partner, or rather ex-partner, but I have ideas for those chapters._**

 ** _Don't worry; it's not gonna take three years in real life to get back to the present! I don't know how many chapters it will take, but hopefully not a whole lot. But I will make them as interesting as possible! I do have the whole story in my head, and I could sum it up for you in about five sentences. But I won't because where's the fun in that if I spoil it? So yeah, all I need to come up with are all the side details, aka the chapters, and we'll have an entire detailed story!_**

 ** _So as we wait for my imagination to come up with the next part, R &R and I hope you have a wonderful day, my readers and fellow Cars fanatics! Chapter 9 might be up before the end of this month. Can't make any promises since it's been a little crazy lately, but I'll sure do my best!_**


	10. Nine

_**You all did want a 9th chapter, right? Well here it is! :D**_

 _ **lolbit, Did you stay alive for this chapter? Hahaha I hope so! I love that you appreciate my story so much and I thank you for that!**_

 _ **Britishlover123, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you love evil Finn, or the idea of him being evil hahahaha. Well, it took eight long chapters, but he's evil now! Do you love me for that? Thank you and you're welcome!**_

 _ **PASTAAAAA, Do you ship Raoul/Duchess? If so, that's awesome! kailaangel42 made that ship, and when I showed her you said that she got super happy! There will be some more of the ship later, but I don't think I'll do tons and tons of it. (I saved that for a oneshot I wrote lol) And I'm glad you like my villain, Mystery! I don't know how exactly to write him, so I guess I made his character a mix of a few types of villains hahahaha. His name will be revealed probably much later, and his true identity will be sometime after that!**_

 _ **Thank you all for your reviews, I love you all, and enjoy this next chapter!**_

* * *

 _ **Nine**_

"We need medics, stat!"

That was the first thing someone shouted. There was a flurry of movement as everyone rushed to help the downed vehicles. Cars were helped up, put on stretchers, or picked up by forklifts and carried away. Cries of pain sounded as some vehicles were moved in such a way it hurt them, or adrenaline rushes ended to bring pain back to injured bodies. Small fires blazed here and there and some debris fell from the destroyed ceiling. Puddles of red oil were splattered about, causing some unsuspecting vehicles to slide, much to their disgust. Shards of broken glass and metal lay everywhere, creating a minefield of sharp car parts to pop the tires of anyone who got close. Fragments of grenades, bullets, and other ammunition littered the once glossy floor that had now lost its sheen. The janitors came in and began clearing away debris so everyone could be reached and helped easier. It was a crazy, frantic scene, yet nothing could snap Holley from her dazed state. She just didn't understand. What was wrong with Finn? What the heck even happened? _Did_ it actually happen? She was in so much confusion, she didn't even notice Lewis trying to get her attention.

"Hey, Shiftwell?" Lewis waved a tire in front of Holley's face. She blinked rapidly, coming out of her trancelike state to look at the racer. "I would ask if you're alright, but I can tell you are definitely not. You're getting crushed. Can you not feel that?" His voice was calm, yet there was detectable fear and concern in his accent.

"I am?" Holley didn't even register the pain radiating from all over her. Well, now she did as the adrenaline died. The concrete and metal from the ceiling were pushing her sides in and had broken her windows. She could feel the thick metal rods stabbing her in various places, preventing her from even budging, and her undercarriage was now burning from being crushed and bent. Her whole body felt like a pain house, and only then did Holley feel the warm and thick liquid seeping out of her from all angles. It was then that panic took over and she tried climbing forward, but was the burning pain was too much. " _Ahhg!_ C-can you help me?" Her voice was now pain-ridden and shaky. Lewis was alarmed, ordering her to be still and pushing aside concrete blocks and grabbing thin metal rods with his teeth to pull them out. He succeeded in getting pretty big pieces off the pile and away from the trapped spy, but he could only get so much off. There was a thick metal construction beam that was bent across Holley's hood, and Lewis couldn't get it off since the ends were weighed down.

"I…can't…get…that…off you!" he struggled to say as he tried pushing the heavy debris off one end. "I'm going to need help, and I'll be back fast!" Lewis promised. He turned around, looking for Mater. The tow truck was on the other side of the room, putting a lot of effort into pulling someone from a hole in the floor. Lewis sped over as fast as his injured body would let him and waited until the vehicle had been pulled free.

"Hey, Lewis. Need help?" Mater asked, ready to pull more vehicles from rubbish piles and holes.

"Your girlfriend does." was all Lewis had to say. He and Mater took off as best as their damaged bodies would allow. "I can't get this beam off her." Lewis tried pulling at the heavy piece of steel.

"Don't worry, I got it." Mater hooked his cable to the beam and gave a hard yank. But it didn't come off. He pulled harder, screeching his tires on the floor. It barely moved two inches. "Dadgum…" Mater grunted. "Is this…thing…cemented…to ya?"

"I don't know…" Holley almost whispered, her voice a bit strained. "But please, hurry… It's crushing me…"

"Can I get some help ov'r here?!" Mater pleaded. A group of vehicles rushed over to help, pulling all the concrete and metal ceiling off the ends of the beam. Finally, Mater was able to yank it away, revealing a nasty deep dent across Holley's hood. She still couldn't pull herself from the pile, so Mater pulled her out.

"Thank you." Holley said, coughing a bit. Her hood was very loose, as it was attached by only one hinge. It slid halfway off diagonally to the right when she sneezed from the concrete and plaster dust. She felt very light-hooded.

"Holley, yer engine don't look too good…" Mater reported with worry.

"It feels…horrible…" Holley whimpered. Her emerald eyes looked down, and she gasped softly. There was liquid leaking all around it, a mix of black regular oil and red blood oil. Her engine was crushed where the beam had been holding her down at, and looking at it reminded her how much pain she was in. "Ohhhh…" Holley groaned, her eyes blurring and fluttering to stay open. She was on the verge of passing out, and Mater sided next to her so she could lean on him.

"Chrysler, that's a lot of blood!" some nearby C.H.R.O.M.E. agent exclaimed when he saw Holley. "We need a medic over here! Agent Shiftwell's lost too much red oil!"

Holley couldn't stay conscious for much longer. Her vision blurred more and her hearing became slightly muffled. All she remembered seeing was a black shape - Lewis - making everybody back up as a bunch of white shapes - the medics - come to help. She was jostled a bit, and saw another white blur approach her. She only knew who it was when he spoke.

"Don't worry, Agent Shiftwell. We'll make those Lemons pay for what they did." promised Blaze.

"We will…" Holley croaked. "Am…I going to die…from my…injuries?"

"No, you won't." Blaze assured stiffly. "You'll be fine. Everything will be."

"Will it?" It was the last thing Holley said before she blacked out...

 **...**

 _She was a year old again, a tiny purple car in a sea of bubbles. She was scared of them, hiding from them when they popped. Never had she ever seen spherical shapes like these that floated and popped and reflected her rounded image. Her fear of the unknown made her terrified of everything at first. The warm water that kept being poured over her and the gentle caresses were soothing, calming her from the big, scary bubbles. This treatment was so different from her last treatments, although she could not remember why she used to hurt a lot. Another bubble popped, this one being in her face, and she squeaked. That's when she realized someone was giving her a bath. She couldn't see who it was at first, but she heard his voice._

 _"Heh heh, they're just bubbles, sweetheart. They are not going to hurt you." he said gently. He placed some bubbles atop her roof, blowing some off. One of them floated down to her hood, popping in front of her eyes. Her fear of the unknown vanished once she realized her father was bathing her. When he told her something was alright, it instantly became no longer scary. She wasn't facing him, but could tell it was him by his voice. "See? Nothing to be afraid of." he added. She began turning around to face him, but the sink suddenly began draining. What was worse, she couldn't move. The drain was pulling her in like a vacuum. She began to thrash, reaching for her father as she was pulled down._

 _"Daddy!" she cried. Her first word._

 _"Holley!" her dad panicked, reaching for her. It was too late. His daughter had disappeared down the drain too far, a distance so close yet unreachable for tires._

 _Holley cried, seeing her father's dark purple face looking worriedly at her. She reached as far as she could, but she just kept slipping down further and further. Finally, the darkness had consumed her entirely and she fell out of the small tube into a bright room. It was C.H.R.O.M.E.'s Training Academy, and she was surrounded by every one of her friends. Suddenly, there was an explosion and she was an adult again, springing into action to fight against the Lemons. She was taking out countless enemies, feeling unlike herself as they screamed in pain and their blood splashed upon her. She felt like a non-sentient machine, not in control of herself as if she was programmed to do this. It seemed familiar in a way, but the spy could not think of why. At one point, Finn saved her from getting killed by a Suburban, and then from a blast. He disappeared after a third blast. There was no time to wonder where he went as more fighting was to be done. Holley kept it up before suddenly everyone and everything froze, all her damaged friends and fellow spies making a huge circle around her and another car. Suddenly, she was facing him. Who she was facing was a silvery blue car, easily recognizable. His eyes were aqua green, but he suddenly blinked and they were now blotched red. The silver Faultless stared at her sadly, almost like he regretted what he had done._

 _"Finn McMissile! Come!" yelled a foreign voice, Mystery's voice. Finn's expression changed. He now looked at Holley with evil in his eyes and a creepy smile. It began to grow dark all around them, everybody disappearing into the blackness until it was just them on the tile flooring. Suddenly, Holley was a tiny baby car again, but Finn was still an adult. He loomed over her tiny frame and because she was so young again, she knew she couldn't drive away from him fast enough. She was so scared, but she found she couldn't move. It was as if she was glued to the spot. She watched, terrified as he came up to her and whispered something in her ear._

 _"I'm not sorry, my dear…" Finn's voice was like acid._

 _Holley wanted to cry. She wanted to scream when he opened his mouth and grabbed her with his teeth. He backed up and with a powerful swing, Finn threw baby Holley far off into the darkness. She watched him disappear through the hole in the wall that the Lemons made to get in. She felt her tears fly off her windshield, shining like tiny diamonds in her headlights before vanishing in the dark void. After what seemed like forever, she finally felt herself land on something hard. Something warm and metal. It was the hood of a car, and he was laughing softly._

 _"Thank you, Finn…" The vehicle looked down at the tiny car on his hood, his eyes smiling as sinisterly as his mouth in the pitch black. "Now you're all mine, little one…" The tiny Holley froze._

 _She recognized that voice._

 **...**

"NO!" Holley shot awake, making everyone in the room jump. Her eyes looked all around, trying to see any vehicles in the darkness. But all she saw were agents Mater and Galba Blaze, and the director Royy in a lit hospital room. And herself in…a hospital bed?

"Holley! You're awake, thank Dodge!" exclaimed Blaze. Mater, who had been talking to the TrailBlazer, rushed over to Holley.

"Yer okay!" he said happily, though his voice sounded like he was in pain. "But what was ya dreamin' about?"

"That, that was just a dream?" Holley gasped still panicky. She was breathing very hard. "Nothing actually happened?"

"Somethin' did happen, but prob'ly not yer dream. You was layin' there, soundin' like you was havin' a good dream, then all of a sudden started whimperin' and cryin'." Mater looked at her with concerned eyes. "What was happening?"

"What was happening?" Holley repeated. What was even going on? "What happened? Why am I in C.H.R.O.M.E.'s medical wing? Where is everyone else?" The poor spy couldn't remember a thing; her mind was still so cloudy from the dream. She began to hyperventilate from fear of not remembering, which was raising her oil pressure.

"Just calm down for a second, Agent Shiftwell." Royy calmly said. "Breathe slowly, look at me, Holley look at me, just settle down and breathe. Your oil pressure doesn't need to be high." He gently stroked his tire across her fender.

Holley finally began to calm down. Her engine was still churning uncomfortably which was making it hurt, but she finally breathed herself calm. "What, what happened?" she asked quietly.

"Something none of us expected." Royy said, sighing. "We lost one of our greatest agents."

"Finn McMissile, your partner, has defected and we don't know why." Blaze quietly reported with a confused look. Holley only blinked.

"You mean to tell me I wasn't dreaming about that? Finn really is gone?" she asked shakily. Disbelief flooded her.

"Well, you was dreamin' 'bout somethin'." Mater brought up. "What was it?"

"But he can't be gone! I was only dreaming about that!" Holley desperately wanted to believe it wasn't true, but the looks of the three told her otherwise. "Wait, you're telling me Finn actually went insane? In reality?" Royy nodded.

"Do you not remember?" he asked.

Holley thought hard. Her dream memories were really messing with her actual memories. "Were we actually fighting? Did the Lemons get in through a hole in the wall?"

"Yes and yes. So, you do remember?" Blaze said, hopeful that Holley's memory was okay.

"I think so…" That's when it all came back. Casually talking with Sally, a sudden explosion, Lemons and non-Lemons, fighting, violence, bloodshed, the pain, almost getting killed, Finn rescuing her and protecting her from a blast, him disappearing, and his evil eyes being the last thing she saw before he left. Holley remembered it all. Her windshield began to water when she realized it was no dream. She blinked away the tears, not wanting everyone in the room to see her like this. "Yes, now I remember. But I had a dream that was the exact same thing. Well, one part actually."

"It's no surprise you dreamed of that." Royy said. "Plenty of agents have passed out after an intense fight and re-lived it in their dream. Was yours any different?"

"No, it was pretty much the same. Except how it started out." Holley recalled her entire dream, now realizing it was longer than she thought.

"What happened?"

"I don't know why, but I dreamt I was a very young child again, getting a bath from my father. It felt like a forgotten memory since I don't remember that at all, but it felt like it happened before. The words my father said, the scenery, and even the scent of the soap all sounded, looked, and smelled vaguely familiar. Though I can't recall a memory of anything like any of that. Well, then it got a little strange after. I was sucked down the sink drain, turned back into an adult, and deposited into the fight." Holley paused, remembering what happened next. "Everything that happened during that, also happened in my dream. And then that's when Finn snapped, and it got weird after."

"What happened next?" Mater asked like it was a very interesting story.

"Everyone but Finn and I disappeared, and I was turned back into a baby. Finn told me he wasn't sorry, then picked me up with his mouth and threw me into the darkness. And then I landed on a vehicle's hood that I couldn't see, and he said 'thank you' to Finn, and told me," she hesitated, remembering his eerily familiar voice. "told me I was his. Everyone, including my father, had their own original voices. This last guy had his own voice too." The other three just looked at Holley strangely.

"Okay, then…" Blaze said, processing the strange dream. "Did his voice sound familiar?"

"No." she lied.

"Very strange."

"Very strange indeed." Royy agreed, musing over it. The Rolls Royce drove towards the door. "I was told to keep an eye on you until you woke up. The doctors told me to inform them when you did, and since you have, I should go tell them."

"Your surgery was quite long since a lot of your engine had to be repaired." Blaze told her. Holley looked at him, puzzled.

"But I thought only some of my engine was crushed on the top." she said, vaguely remembering the minute before passing out.

"It was, but the doctors said you are made very uniquely. That was their first time operating on you, and boy could we tell."

"They seemed to have done a fine job. My engine feels functional, but sore of course. They said I was what, Blaze? I'm made uniquely?"

"Apparently so. The doctors were afraid of messing something up since your parts are one-of-a-kind. They had to take your parts out and fix them instead of just replacing them."

"My parts are unique?" Holley had never heard that before. She has seen her own engine a time or two, but thought nothing of it being different. In fact, she had every part a car was supposed to have. "But my engine looks like everyone else's as far as general appearance goes. My parts aren't that different."

"They have small diff'rences." explained Mater. "Some of yer parts were smaller or longer or shaped differen'ly than the replacement parts the doctors have here. That's why it took longer."

"Strange." Holley commented. "I have never, ever known that. Of course, I haven't had much engine work done, so I would have never known. I guess you learn something new every day."

"You really do." Royy said absent-mindedly, staring at the wall. "Heh, I mean who knew our best agent was secretly evil?" He looked over to the others with an amused expression.

"With his weird behavior for about three months, it was a bit evident." Holley stated.

"You noticed that too?" asked Blaze in agreement. "I thought I was the only one."

"Notice what?" Royy inquired.

"That Finn was acting different." Blaze told him. "He went back to his normal self for a while until today."

"Hm, I must have never noticed. Of course, I didn't see him much during the time. He mostly kept to himself at his house when he was acting strange, it sounds." Royy said.

"Is that why I could hardly find him unless we went out on a mission? He was at his house?" Holley realized with some annoyance. Royy nodded, and she watched Blaze follow Royy out the door to tell the doctors.

"While they're out tellin' the docs, can ya tell me if I was in yer dream?" Mater was curious to know.

"Well, everybody was. You were beat up pretty badly, just like how you were in the real fight." Holley said. "I lost sight of you when everyone disappeared in the darkness."

"And that's when Finn threw ya inta it?"

"Yes, though my one-year-old dream self thought Finn was going to eat me when he came at me with his mouth open."

"Good thing he didn't. And that sounds nuthin' like the Finn we know." Mater snorted, shaking his (nonexistent) hood. "Jus' snap an' leave us like that. What was wrong wit him?"

"I have no idea. I still can't believe he did, though." Holley said in a soft, small voice.

"What is it wit spies an' bein' calm all the time?" Mater suddenly demanded. "You an' every one of the agents here are all calm even though we had a surprise attack an' lost Finn! I've been tryin' to be calm like y'all, but I can't!" Mater had been excellent of hiding it, but now he wasn't holding back anymore. He was terrified of not knowing what to do and of the whole situation, and he was petrified.

Holley could tell he was truly scared; Mater was now still and shaking all over, while earlier he had been hiding his shaking by moving around a lot. "Well, we just stay calm because the last thing you want to do is panic and scare everyone else. These new cars have only been here for about three months and have never been in a situation like this. If we panic, they panic. And when everyone's panicking, then nothing gets solved and that makes the situation worse." she explained calmly, feeling terrible that she couldn't do much to comfort her love.

"And I have no idea how you can stay calm. I'm freaking out!" Mater was not really acting like himself, and Holley hoped the fight hadn't taken some toll on him. "I'm gonna go t-talk to Lightning for a bit. I haven't s-seen him since, uh, the last time I saw him. Bye Holley!" And he was out the door rather quickly.

"I hope he's okay. And I was really hoping this was a dream." Holley pleaded to herself. _"But where have I heard that voice before?"_ she thought. She knew she had heard that last voice in her dream before, long ago. But she just couldn't place her tire on it.

 _"Now you're all mine, little one…"_ his voice echoed in her mind. It sent shivers through her body, and a strange wave of pain as well. She suddenly felt sick, like she was going throw up oil.

"I wish I had someone to talk to about that…" Holley whispered to herself. At times like these when she was absolutely terrified, she would have given anything to talk to Finn. He had always listened to her problems and helped her take care of them. It was almost as if he was her spy partner and counselor. Holley forced herself to keep calm, but it wasn't working. Without Finn, Holley felt alone and scared.

Before she met him, she wasn't really like this. She kept to herself after becoming a spy, since she was taught to never trust anyone and that relationships could be dangerous. But after they met and Finn dragged her along on that Allinol mission, Holley really opened up to him and they grew close. Even after he acted strange, they were still inseparable in a way. And now that they were separated, Holley felt like a part of her was broken. _"Oh no… Have I gotten attached?"_ she thought worriedly. She began to tear up a little; the actual realization that Finn was gone had finally caught up to her. Holley tried to force herself to stop but couldn't. _"I have gotten attached… Why did I let myself get attached to him?"_ Then she began to cry.

She didn't care about the whole thing with friendships. Any relationships in her line of work could be dangerous? Ha, that was funny. Were her parents dangerous? No. Was Mater untrustworthy? No, absolutely not. Were any of her friends, new and old, dangerous and untrustworthy? Not at all, as far as Holley could tell. But, was Finn dangerous? _"I don't know anymore…"_ she thought and continued to cry softly. No matter how many times she thought about it, she still couldn't believe he was gone. Snapped and went with the Lemons, of all evil vehicles. She didn't know how long it had been going on for, anyway. How long had Finn been losing his mind? Is that why his behavior changed and he was moody sometimes? Holley was almost sure of it. She was still having a mental breakdown of thoughts when the doctor, a beautiful, fiery red, young 1998 McLaren F1 LM, came into the room. Her kind smile put Holley more at ease.

"Hello, Miss Agent Shiftwell." greeted the doctor. "I was the one who operated on you and fixed your engine, and I'm pretty sure you've been told you have a unique one."

"Am I glad to know you were the one to operate on me, Dr. Rose." Holley sighed in relief, knowing Rose personally and knowing she is the best surgeon at C.H.R.O.M.E. "And yes, I was informed." she affirmed through tight lips. "Is that normal?"

"As soon as you came in I was the first in the room, so I got you, love." Rose smiled, but then it fell. "And to answer your question… Well, to put it the way it is, no. It's not normal." she said bluntly. " _But_ , it has been recorded before and it's extremely, _extremely_ rare. However, don't worry. You are perfectly healthy and working properly. It's almost as if your parts were tire-crafted with you in mind of the manufacturers. Or even the Great Manufacturer Himself." Holley shrugged her tires.

"Maybe. I don't really know." she said. "My mother is a very sleek, light purple Jaguar, and my father is a really dark purple, kind of curvy, custom sedan. My parents told me that they wanted me to be like them, so I suppose I really was custom built. At the manufacturer, they requested I look like my mother, have the curves of my father, except more feminine, and a mix of both their colors. But of course, every newly manufactured baby car's first paint job is a mix of its parents' colors."

"Yes indeed. So that's your original paint job?" pondered Rose.

"Yes, it is. I've only had it touched-up some, but never changed."

"Well it's a lovely shade of purple that suits you very well. It really brings out your eyes, honey. I don't think I've ever seen such a brilliant green."

Holley smiled. "Thank you. I don't know where my eye color came from since my mother's eyes were blue while my father's were brown." she remembered. Holley hadn't seen her parents ever since she left to become a spy, which has been a few years. As a random, irrelevant thought, she wondered what they were up to now.

"Interesting. Maybe when their DNA was taken to make your biological parts, one or both of them had the gene for green eyes and it dominated the other genes."

"Perhaps." Holley watched as the doctor readied herself to check her vitals.

"So, I heard you had a strange dream while you were out." Rose brought up casually. She often heard about the strange tales that took place in the sleeping minds of her patients. Often, it was when she went to check on them after a serious medical procedure or mission. "And it was pretty much what happened out there, with some other strange things?"

"Yes. Very, very weird. Ended with some vehicle I didn't know and couldn't see." said Holley. "But I heard his voice."

"Did you recognize it?"

"No." Once again, lying.

"Strange. Well, I need to check your vitals, babe." stated Rose. "I'll try to be fast." Holley laughed a little.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere." she snickered. _"Just having time to think to myself…"_ she thought. The only car she wanted to talk to and even trusted talking to, was Finn. He had the best reasoning and surprisingly gave the best advice for problematic situations. He wasn't _old_ , but he has been around long enough to be very intelligent and wise. Maybe it was because of that or something else, but for some reason, Holley felt more at ease talking to him. It was like talking to a friend she had known forever, even though they had only met a year ago. Yet somehow, they had grown remarkably close in less than those twelve months, specifically right after the Allinol scam.

The two weeks after the scam was when it started, and Holley guessed it was because she wanted to be a field agent just like him. Finn did seem insanely happy and even proud when she told him she wanted to be like him. That was when he started treating her like she was one of his closest friends in the world, regardless of 'friendships or any relationships being dangerous'. Holley even recalled how Finn was the one who mentioned that when he, Mater, and she were on Stephenson. It seemed like after she and Mater started dating, Finn approved of that. He even started treating her like she was more than just his spy partner, and Mater like more than just an American spy (even though he's not a spy). He treated his all his friends like family.

Finn became a little more open when he wasn't having his strange behavior days. Holley wondered why, and if it had anything to do with herself. She only shook her hood to herself and began thinking about everything that had happened so far. She wished her partner was still there so she could have somebody wise to tell her what was going on and what her dream could have been about. But since he was gone, Holley settled with her own thoughts rather than Finn's.

 **...**

"Can you believe everything that happened?" asked a slightly frantic Lightning to Sally. The two had just gotten their more major injuries checked and were waiting with everyone else to get fixed all the way. Luckily the waiting room was big enough to accommodate over 28 vehicles.

"Not really." Sally mumbled, slightly out-of-it. The Porsche had gotten hit on the roof pretty hard and was trying not to fall asleep - or fall over.

"Don't fall asleep, Sal. Doctor said you have a concussion." cautioned Lightning, siding next to his girlfriend to keep her up.

"I'm not tryin' to…" Sally slurred a little. "My hood is throbbing. I didn't know I could feel that way…" She opened her eyes more when someone started shouting.

"Lightnin'! Lightnin'!" Mater yelled while going to find his best friend. He found the racer talking with Sally.

"Oh, hey Mater." Lightning greeted. "Something wrong happen?"

"Are you kiddin'? We jus' got attacked by a buncha Lemons an' lost Finn, an' yer asking if somethin' wrong happened?" Mater exclaimed all at once. "How can ya keep calm? I been tryin' ta be like ever'body else, but I can't! Oh, howdy Miss Sally!" he added. "How do ya keep calm?!" The tow truck was having a hard time keeping it together.

"Easy, there Mater!" Lightning ordered, but not unkindly. "Just breathe if you can't stop freaking out. That's what the rest of us did."

"I already tried that."

"Plus, the doctors did give us all painkillers that are pretty relaxing-" Lightning didn't get to finish before Mater took off. "Mater, where are you going?"

"I ain't seen the doc yet! Maybe he'll gimme some of them pain whatchamacallits!" Mater called frantically before disappearing into the hall to find one of the doctors.

"Oh dear…" muttered Sally. "There he goes…"

 **...**

It was about two days after the incident, and Holley was glad to be released. She healed rather quickly, which stunned the doctors. She could have been released the day before, but Rose wanted to keep her one more night to be sure she was completely okay. Holley was surprised when she told her she heals two to three times faster than normal vehicles. She never really thought about her ability to heal that quickly, but when a doctor told her she does it faster than _normal_ vehicles, that caught her off-guard. _"My engine is not like everyone else's, and I heal much faster than everybody…"_ she thought after. _"That's the way I was built, and that's in my genetics… Maybe I'm really not like everybody else…"_ But she didn't think much more about it.

The purple spy tried not to make eye-contact with anyone as she made her way to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s front doors. _"I've got to figure this out…"_ thought Holley as she drove out of the headquarters. _"Where could I find something that would help me figure this out?"_ She inhaled a large amount of fresh air, happy to be healed and out of C.H.R.O.M.E.'s medical wing. No one was near her, and she was glad; the last thing she needed was someone asking her where she was going. Holley didn't know why, but she had an urge to go to Finn's house. _"Something is telling me what I need is there…"_ she thought. She recalled Royy saying that Finn was always at his house when he was probably acting strange. Why not stop there?

It didn't take her long to find it. She had been there many times, and every time she went it was for something enjoyable, like a spot of tea or just to hang out. But this time it felt different. Arriving at the door to Finn's house and not seeing him answer it was just…weird. It was even stranger that Holley had to pick the lock on the door, rather than just open it and drive in like she owned it because Finn trusted her. "Heh, Finn really _did_ trust me. That's kinda funny to think about." she said to herself. Being a spy meant one could not trust just anybody. Everyone could be a threat, which is why it is mandatory for every spy to have a background checker. It's hard for spies to trust someone fully because they're taught not to trust anybody. Even their own partner. Yet that was not the case with Finn and Holley. They trusted each other almost immediately after they became official partners, but Holley didn't understand that. Finn trusted her first, and it was because of that, that she let herself trust him.

She unlocked the door and as soon as she opened it, felt strange. Instead of warm and inviting, Finn's house felt cold and empty. The purple spy rolled in slowly, scanning the place to see if it looked any different. Aside from some dust gathered about in the corners, it looked relatively clean and organized. No one had come in and done anything since Finn defected and ran away. Holley pulled into the living room area, where she saw everything still the way it would have been as if the house had been cleaned recently. She drove into the kitchen, where she found nothing out of the ordinary again. Going through the cabinets didn't reveal anything worth looking at, either.

She exited the kitchen and went down the hall, where she turned into the bathroom. It was a large bathroom, but only big enough for one vehicle. Holley mentally apologized to Finn as she opened the drawers and found a few of his personal items. Nothing embarrassing; just a toothbrush and toothpaste, some Retread Tire Deodorant, and some air freshener that smelled just like Finn. Holley sighed, not finding anything worth looking into. She still had the air freshener scent in her intake and wondered what her partner would have done if he knew what she was up to. Still saying he was her partner didn't sound right. _"I suppose Finn could be called my ex-partner now…"_ she thought sadly. "Just when I thought things were going super well and I finally felt like a real spy, he just _had_ to snap." Holley growled through her teeth, feeling mad all of a sudden. She suddenly was angry at the Lemons for coming in and killing a bunch of spies in a hellish bloodbath. She was angry at them for coming back and doing it again a second time, but taking Finn with them. She was angry at everyone else for not being extremely concerned like they should be, only because some agents have turned evil in the past and nothing could really be done. She was angry at herself for caring so much and allowing herself to grow close to Finn. She was angry at Finn for losing his mind and leaving. She was angry at Finn for leaving _her_. _Abandoning_ her when she _needed him the most_.

Holley glared at herself in the mirror. "Why, Finn? Why did you do this? Why did you just leave us?! Why did you do such a stupid thing, WHY?!" she yelled at the ceiling. Glancing down at the open drawer, she slammed it closed with such force that it broke its track and hung lopsided. The impact was enough to cause a spray can of polish to fall off a shelf above Holley, where it landed with a dull _donk_ on her hood. It made her jump to the side in surprise, and she instantly glared at it angrily. "Why did Finn put this on a shelf so high?" she growled. She tilted her body to make it roll off towards her left side, then hit it as hard as she possibly could when it fell past her tire. It flew into the mirror and, with a sound Holley was expecting, shattered the glass. That was when her rage calmed a little, and she looked at what she had done. The mirror was broken into a few large pieces still in the frame, and millions of tiny shards glittering in the sink. She closed her eyes and breathed, wishing this was all just a vivid nightmare and that she would wake up right then. But she did not. Sighing, Holley opened her eyes and looked at the mirror, feeling as broken as what was reflected. It reminded her of when she was a child, a small purple car pretending to be a ninja.

She hid in the bathroom, away from her parents, to climb on things like a real ninja. Holley remembered she would have gotten in trouble for climbing on things she wasn't supposed to, which was why she went to the bathroom. She remembered climbing up onto a towel rack, and nearly losing her balance. The only option was to jump, but she didn't jump down. Holley jumped straight for the sink but didn't think about how much force she put into her rear axle. She practically flew into the mirror, shattering it. The little car was so scared of what her mother would say, but more terrified of what her father would do. Holley cut herself from her memory, not wanting to think about what anyone would say about this now. Especially the housekeepers, since they took care of every vacant house in C.H.R.O.M.E.'s vicinity. She backed up and left, deciding it was best to leave before she damaged anything else.

She went out into the hall and was about to turn when she saw another door. Holley stared at it, knowing exactly what room it was. Contemplating whether or not to go in, she drove to the door and stopped. _"Finn's bedroom…"_ she thought. _"Do I dare enter?"_ She rested her tire on the handle. Something behind that door didn't feel right, but something else was telling her to go in and have a look. Should she go in? Holley pressed her tire against it. It was locked.

But she still had her lock picker…

 **...**

Finn was at the back of the pack, beside Mystery. He was thinking about what he just did, and how everyone was dealing with it.

"You've been quiet, McMissile." Mystery's voice pulled the snapped agent from his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, I've just been thinking." Finn said.

"Thinking about what, exactly?"

"Just how everybody is doing back at the agency. We had been training for you guys to do another surprise attack." Finn paused, he hadn't said anything since 'I am ready' back at the headquarters. His voice sounded a bit more sinister than usual, even to himself, and his accent made it creepier. He loved it now.

"Ah, I see. And I must say that training paid off. Your new additions were pretty impressive. They killed many of my men, but that's why I have a special machine, heh heh." Mystery chuckled.

"Special machine? What's it do?" Finn asked.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough."

Finn stayed quiet the rest of the way, not wanting to ask too many questions. The ex-spy certainly wasn't afraid of Mystery. Having all those years' worth of secret agent experience would potentially make Finn more dangerous than Mystery. But judging by the technology this mysterious character has, Finn wouldn't dare challenge him anytime soon. Plus, he wasn't entirely sure how these evil vehicles did things, answered questions, or how short the leader's temper was. He had to admit to himself that he was new at this, only knowing what it felt like to _want_ to become evil. Not actually _being_ evil. But now that he was, it felt absolutely amazing. No longer did Finn have to keep to himself and pretend to be something he wasn't. There was nothing that was going to stop him from being who he truly was now.

After all that thinking, Finn suddenly found himself rather close to the back end of a truck. He looked past everyone to see they were stopped at a lone semi-truck trailer. He hadn't been paying attention to where they were going.

"We're here." Mystery said lowly. He pushed his way to the front and opened the door to the trailer. Everyone disappeared into the darkness in a single line with pushing and shoving. Finn was still at the back, so he was the last in. He followed the truck in front of him until he finally got to the trailer. A familiar green Pacer was waiting for everyone to go in so he could shut the doors. When he saw Finn, his glowing brown eyes widened in shock and confusion.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Finn speculated, the surprise of recognition affecting him too.

"Considering I know you from somewhere, I don't doubt it." the Pacer said, looking closely at the Faultless. "You're that secret agent, Finn McMissile."

"And you're that AMC Pacer who tried to kill me with a flamethrower in that alley back in Tokyo." Finn specified, remembering blowing him up and making him get stuck in that advertisement. "Acer, if I do recall."

"That would be me. What are you doing here? Did Mystery really get you to snap and join us?" Acer pondered.

"He helped." Finn smirked when he saw the shocked look on Acer's face.

"Helped? You mean you've always been insane and evil?"

"Not exactly. But in a way, yes." Finn rolled into the trailer, leaving Acer to shut the door and be baffled. He turned on his headlights and saw the floor at the other end of the trailer was cut out in a giant square. A ramp led down into darkness, where he could hear the voices of the others echoing. He followed them until he came out into a large room, which was part of Mystery's lair. There were rows of workplaces lined neatly, most of which looked like places to make things, such as parts. A short metal fence lined a raised walkway at the front of the room, and there were two hallways on either side, with a giant hallway in the middle. Out around the workplaces was evidence of fights that broke out: a desk was tipped over, some papers hastily flung about, tire marks on the floor, flakes of paint from various cars, pieces of glass, and blood smeared here and there. The room was spacious, with dark walls and slightly dimmed lights completing the look. The whole building was exactly the opposite of C.H.R.O.M.E., and for a second Finn almost felt out-of-place.

 _"You are just like them now. Do not feel so misplaced."_ whispered a voice inside Finn's head.

"Oh, you again." he answered it quietly.

 _"Yes, it is me. Don't feel so different from these guys. They're who you were once, and they're who you are now."_

"Who I was once? You don't even know what happened to me."

 _"Or do I? Although I would rather have you dead, I suppose this could be as bad a punishment."_

"Have me dead? What are you talking about? Who are you?" Finn questioned, taken aback.

 _"Nobody important to you. Not anymore, at least. I can only hope you do this as well as I could have before, well, you know. I still hate you, Finn McMissile. But you probably still hate me, too."_

"What do you mean you and I hate each other?" Finn waited for a response. The voice didn't speak. "Hey, come back and tell me who you are! I don't know you, but I sure hate you now!" he snapped.

"You hate me? What's your problem, pal?" demanded an angered Gremlin who was close to Finn. A few others turned and glared at the Faultless as well. Even the truck that was in front of Finn earlier was looking back with anger in his eyes.

"I wasn't talking to you." Finn snarled, glaring back.

"Then who were you talking to?"

"No one. Leave me alone." Finn snapped.

"Oh, I see." The Gremlin began to ridicule. "Gonna act tough, but then run away when someone confronts you about it." He laughed, inching closer. "Too bad I don't run away, even if you claim you weren't talking to me."

"You better back away from me…" Finn growled.

"Or what? You're a spy! You're not even supposed to be in here!" The Gremlin lurched forward, hitting Finn's already damaged fender.

"Don't touch me, you piece of sh-!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" the Gremlin roared angrily, cutting Finn off and knowing what he was going to say next. He hit Finn again, sending him backwards a bit.

Finn cursed again under his breath. The impact sent a shockwave of pain though him, and it really hurt. The Gremlin came in for another hit, but Finn jumped out of the way. He didn't give the Lemon time to back up. The Faultless rammed as hard as he could into the junk heap's back end, then punched his fender. The Gremlin was dazed but tried to go at Finn again. The ex-spy raised his right tire and slammed it down as hard as he could on the Lemon's hood, just above the grille. The Gremlin's rear tires went up into the air and his grille went into the floor. The momentum was enough to cause him to flip over, and he found the world upside down before he could scream. Finn was directly in front of him.

"What?! How did you-"

"Don't you _EVER_ touch me, or try me AGAIN… You will _not_ live…" Finn's words were full of venom, and the red in his eyes shined a darker shade. Every vehicle backed away from the dangerous newcomer, staring. Finn noticed. "What the bloody _HELL_ are you all looking at?!" he spat. They all turned or drove away, and Finn liked this new intimidation he had. He could feel his insanity taking over, really turning him evil. He didn't try to stop it.

"Goodness, Finn!" exclaimed a voice belonging to the only other vehicle that scared everyone. "Haven't had you here ten minutes and you've already shown your dominance and nearly killed Tyler." Mystery rolled up to the upside-down Gremlin. "Lesson learned, Tyler. Don't set off this vehicle because I won't stop him." he said without a care. With a shove, Mystery flipped Tyler back over and watched him glare at Finn before driving away, pride hurt.

"These guys are jokes." Finn insulted. "Pieces of rubbish that deserve better being in a junkyard."

"Well, they're Lemons. Unfortunately, we can't change that." Mystery reminded him. He pulled up beside Finn, taking him to the front. "And before anyone else makes a mistake like that, perhaps you should introduce yourself to your new family, huh?"

Finn nearly halted. _"New family?"_ he thought. His family had only consisted of his parents who were both deceased now, a tirefull of C.H.R.O.M.E. agents, some close friends, and one other vehicle nobody knew about. Would he trade in all that for this other family? "My new family?" he repeated slowly.

"Why sure. We're all a family here because we're all alike. Vehicle type, evil, insane, snapped, hatred. We're all here for the same intentions, but maybe different reasons." Mystery explained. He and Finn pulled onto the ramp that led to the walkway, that was maybe four feet off the ground. "ATTENTION EVERYBODY!" Mystery's voice nearly shook the building with such power. Every vehicle had their eyes on their leader. "The attack we pulled on C.H.R.O.M.E. was successful and I am proud of all of you for going in and killing more agents. We might have lost a few of our own, but we did manage to steal one of their best." Mystery backed up and Finn pulled forward. Anyone who recognized him gasped. "This here is Finn McMissile, the best agent that _was_ at the agency. You all will now answer to Finn as well as Zündapp, Grem, Acer, and me. If you shall refuse orders, you will simply be done away with. Are we clear on that?" Mystery demanded to the crowd.

"Yes, sir!" was the loud response.

"Good. Finn is officially with us now, and thanks to my weapon you all so graciously built parts for, we have other additions, too." There were a few C.H.R.O.M.E. agents at the back of the crowd and Finn recognized them, though he didn't know them personally. Just knew them as a passing-by at the agency.

"What did you do? Why are they here?" Finn asked.

"I have a machine that can tempt vehicles and make them snap." Mystery laughed darkly. "It's pretty much against their will, too. But at the same time, I suppose you can say it's willing."

"Is that what you did to me?" guessed Finn.

"Did you turn evil against your own will?"

"I, uh…" Finn had to think. He remembered what Mystery said, how deeply those words penetrated him. How _true_ they were. And he remembered that little moment, those few seconds that completely stopped time, when Finn made a decision. When the consideration to turn evil was brought out, and he chose to snap. Mystery had said the right words. "I snapped by myself." Finn finally acknowledged. "And I feel you played some part of it."

"Well, I can't say I wanted to lose any chance of getting you to join us." Mystery truthfully said. "Tell me, Finn, has anything gone missing from C.H.R.O.M.E. lately? Anything important?" Finn looked at the inky-black shadow of a vehicle next to him.

"Only a book." he said, sighing with a knowing smile. "Do you happen to know its whereabouts?"

"You think I could have made you consider snapping without the help of _Control_?" Mystery held out his tire, revealing the old book. Finn smiled more sinisterly.

"I wouldn't have turned evil any other way." he grinned, his eyes glittering with insanity from the red clashing with the green. He raised up and looked down upon his new family. "Ladies and gentlecars, I am a part of this family now. And you may not quite know who I am," Finn quickly deployed both his AKs and with some very skilled aim, shot his emblem - the letter M in a circle on a badge - into the concrete floor. "But you're about to find out." The vehicles below looked at it, impressed and with admiration. They now looked at Finn with sudden respect, the same respect they looked at Mystery with. Finn looked at Mystery with his mirror, pleased to see a proud look in those red eyes.

"I take it you like your new authority." he decided.

"Oh yes I do. At C.H.R.O.M.E., I was just a spy labeled as the best. I felt I should have been more." Finn stood tall and proud, looking intimidatingly down at everyone who seemed like small pests now, rather than the threats they were earlier that day. "Now I have no label. I am no longer a spy working for good. I am not Agent Finn McMissile, British Intelligence anymore. I am the real Finn McMissile, helping lead evil cars just like me. I am the Finn I have always been since the incident that changed me." he paused, closing his eyes and taking a moment to remember what happened all those years ago. "And I am liking the change." He opened his eyes, smiling and looking sinisterly down at everybody. He could feel the insanity taking over him fully, completely turning him evil and corrupting his mind beyond what made him a sentient being.

He liked it.

* * *

 ** _So how is everyone liking evil Finn so far? I'm trying to make him mean now lol._**

 ** _I don't know about you all, but the way I wrote those parts about Finn and Holley, it almost sounded like I'm trying to ship them hahahahaha. I know some people do, but eh. It'd be okay if they were closer in age. But anyone can do as they please, I guess lol._**

 ** _And the part where Holley goes to Finn's house was not my idea. It was kailaangel42's idea because I could not come up with what to put next to save my life!_**

 ** _And speaking of which, I am gonna need some help for the next chapter. I've got the first part and some of the ending done in my head (not on the document yet), but I'm gonna need some fill-in parts so the next chapter can be over 4,000 words. I wanna write about how everyone feels about what happened, and what everyone is gonna be doing until they are instructed further. I don't know if you've counted, but that's about 28 characters! I won't write them individually; maybe in groups so it won't be too much. I'll just write how they're handling the situation based on their personalities. If you all could help with that, I would really appreciate it! If you choose to review, you can put your suggestion/idea in with it, or you can PM me if you prefer that. It doesn't matter if you do or don't want to, that is perfectly okay! I have at least one person helping me, but if you'd like to suggest ideas, let me know!_**

 ** _Stay tuned for chapter 10! Whenever that'll be up, lol. Probably next month or so, since I'm making pretty okay progress hahahaha._**


	11. Ten

_**Guess who's baaaaack?**_

 _ **Not evil Finn, so we're safe :D (Sorry to those who were wanting him in this chapter. But don't fret; he will be back!)**_

 _ **I am back with a brand new chapter, brought to you by Gallon of Milk and Gallon of Orange Juice from the United Gallons! (Don't ask)**_

 _ **Good news: This new chapter! Bad news: School started... -_- At least I have my school laptop back and can work on TWTS at school!**_

 _ **Bitty, Thank you for the idea you gave me! I really did put it into this chapter, just like I added a sentence about the box just for you! And I thank you and love you for your continued support through this story, and staying by my side during the incident ^_^**_

 _ **TRikiD, So much thanks for all your reviews! I had already answered your questions, so all I can say now is there are answers to come! Oh, and I can't wait to read the story you're currently working on that you asked me to Beta :D**_

 _ **Britishlover123, He is, isn't he? I guess his "little" secret he's harboring makes him act so violent! Your hype is going to know what Finn is hiding soon... Maybe it will scare her, maybe it won't hahaha.**_

 _ **PASTAAAAA, Oh yes, she was super happy about that! She even left a review in response to you, if you haven't seen it :). I had to think about how she would feel if a close friend suddenly turned traitor, and since it's her partner, I figured it would feel worse for her :(. And chapter 10 is here as a result of your waiting!**_

 _ **kailaangel42, I text you all the time, so you kinda know what to expect in this chapter XD. But not completely since one part was written just for you! You'll probably want to kill me again, tho...**_

 _ **Thank you all for your reviews! I am always thinking about you reviewers and non-reviewers, and that helps me get my imagination going to write descriptive chapters! I love you all!**_

 _ **And speaking of more detail, I tried to make the talking parts more descriptive. Instead of using just 'said', I tried to use a variety of words. I'll try to do that from this chapter on :D.**_

 _ **This chapter had a kind of a huge fill-in-where-I-couldn't-come-up-with-anything in it, so if it seems to get a little off-topic, then you've found that huge part! But I suppose this whole chapter could be considered a fill-in, so eh. Enjoy, my dear readers~**_

* * *

 _ **Ten**_

Holley bit her lip as she held up her lock picker with her telescoping utility arm. She looked at it, then to the door. "Do I really want to go in?" she whispered to herself. Something was telling her that inside that room, she would find something that would give her a little insight into the problem at tire. But it was Finn's bedroom, a place she had never been in before. Holley had never been one to prowl around other vehicle's houses and only stayed in the living room when she was invited over. She had been in the kitchen a few times, and of course the bathroom, but never strayed into the bedroom. In fact, she had never been this far down the hallway before since the bedroom was the last door on the left down it. The bathroom was a few yards away on the right side, and that was as far as Holley had ever gone down this hall. Now she stood at the end, facing the last door on the left and feeling guilty about going in. But she had to. It was a _bedroom_ and it was locked with no one on the other side! Everyone knows bedrooms can only be locked from the inside, so why would Finn have his locked and no one be in there? That can only mean there was something in there he didn't want anyone to see, something that was possibly tied to his snapping. That was the best motivation Holley could give herself to start snooping. Picking the lock until she heard a tiny _click_ , the purple spy closed her eyes and pushed it open to find…

Nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary like the rest of the house, at least. Holley gave a sigh of relief that nothing popped out at her. She was also insanely glad that Finn wasn't crazy enough to have a gun attached to the door so that when it opens, the opener gets shot. Looking around for any potential traps, she rolled in slowly. Finn's room was clean and very organized. It was rather empty, actually, save for a large bed being the first thing she saw and a dresser with a mirror on a wall. There was a large window giving an excellent view of a big field Holley recognized as C.H.R.O.M.E.'s outdoor training grounds. There were a few vehicles out there, but they were so far away she could not tell who they were. She turned away from the blinds and stared at the wall across from her. Had she not been a spy living in her own house here, Holley would not have known that wall held weapons behind it. Her house in C.H.R.O.M.E.'s vicinity was slightly different from Finn's, but they both held the same secrets like the other houses. One of those secrets is that they all have weapons hidden in their walls. A spy would know a huge, empty wall with nothing in front of it, but maybe a picture hanging on it, will open to an arsenal of deadly weapons. A code is required to get in, a code consisting of a few numbers so it is remembered easily. Every spy is told to never give their codes away, even to fellow spies. Guess who broke that rule? Finn told Holley the code to get into his weapons closet one day, and for some reason she never forgot it. Just like she never understood why he told her. _"He must have trusted me more than I thought…"_ Holley thought to herself. Although when he told her the code and she asked why, his answer was 'just in case'...

 _"Why did you tell me the code? Not that I'm gonna do anything bad of course. And not that you can't trust me, but still, why? Aren't we forbidden to tell anyone?" Holley had wondered. Finn just smiled warmly at her._

 _"Just in case. You are my partner now, and I feel it is my job to also look out for you." he had answered. Holley only laughed softly._

 _"Finn, I can take care of myself. You don't have to keep an eye on me at all times. I'm a spy like you. You don't have to protect me." was her response. After she said that, she noticed something new in Finn's eyes. It was a glint of something, a flash of uncertainty as if he knew he was right and she was wrong. But there was also something else behind that, something Holley almost recognized for a second. Finn hid it before it revealed too much. But, too much of what?_

 _"Yes, you are a field agent spy like me. But you are very inexperienced and rely solely on lessons learned in training and school, not lessons learned from actual experience." Finn had said, reminding her she wasn't exactly like him. "I must keep an eye on you sometimes. You are my young, inexperienced partner whom I taught to be a field agent. So yes, I have to protect you, my dear." Holley only smiled at him, that time knowing he was right…_

Holley found herself smiling at the memory. It wasn't too long ago, but it was just after Finn stopped acting weird. She sighed, realizing she would have to finally use the code, but not because of a life or death situation. Holley tapped in the code and a small portion of the wall slid out. There were shelves that used to hold guns, missiles, magnetic grenades, and bullets, but they were all empty. Finn had taken all his weapons. Great, he was fully armed and possibly extremely dangerous. No, he _was_ extremely dangerous now that he had lost his mind. Putting her tire on the wall to close it, Holley noticed something. At the very bottom of the shelves was a small, gun-like weapon. It looked nothing like anything C.H.R.O.M.E. had to offer, and it didn't look like one of Finn's weapons Holley knew about, and she knew them all. Yet even in all its unfamiliar glory, it looked custom-built for her. The size of it was perfect for her tire rim, and Holley was shocked to see it actually resembled her rims. It was just like her taser and both her guns, except she didn't know what this weapon was or what it did. Upon closer examination, there was a note attached to it. The purple spy cautiously slid the weapon out with her tire, then picked up the note with her utility arm. Relieved the gun didn't blow up or something, Holley lifted the note to her eyes and read it. Her emerald gaze widened when she recognized the small tirewriting as Finn's. For a male, he had the neatest and fanciest cursive Holley had ever seen, but most often he wrote in the neatest print Holley had ever seen as well. Oddly, this note was in cursive:

 _It doesn't surprise me that you went into my house. And quite frankly, I don't care. But what I do care about is your safety. Take this and trust me. Even if you don't trust me now._

"What?" Holley was shocked. Finn knew that she would find her way to his house and snoop around? Never mind that, he still _cared_ about her? "Finn, you insane maniac! What are you playing at?" Holley demanded to the note. It, of course, did not respond. She let go of it and looked down at the weapon. It looked dangerous, but then again, any weapon looks dangerous when one doesn't know what it does. Holley's eyes drifted over to the note, which had landed on its other side when it fluttered to the floor. There was something else written, once again in Finn's cursive tirewriting:

 _When life gives you Lemons and your weapons don't work out, just pull the trigger and ignore their shouts._

Holley stared at it, half wondering what that meant, and half wondering how Finn came up with that rhyme. She gently picked it up with her utility arm, examining it closely. Engraved on the barrel read 'Use on enemies only'. "What happens if I use it on myself?" Holley mumbled, joking about that. Although she wished this was all just a bad dream, she would never do a thing like that. "Or what if I shot someone at C.H.R.O.M.E.?" Once again, joking. She put the weapon away, turning to face the small dresser in front of the mirror. On it were framed photos, some of vehicles Holley didn't recognize. She saw one of Finn standing beside an old Rolls Royce, one she didn't know. There was another of Finn with a red car, Leland Turbo, Holley knew. Although she never met him, she knew that he was Finn's partner before her. Then there was a third, an old picture of Finn when he was much, much younger, possibly in his twenties. He was looking at the camera with a spark in his eyes Holley knew as determination. _"That must have been when he just graduated out of the Academy and was determined to become the best…"_ she thought. She noticed a couple of ladies in the background behind Finn, looking at him and appearing to be whispering to each other excitedly. _"Finn must have been a ladies' man back then… I must say he is quite handsome in this young picture of him…"_ Wait, what? Holley backed up a bit at the thought, looking surprised at herself in the mirror. Did she really just think her much-older-than-her spy partner was handsome? Looking down at the picture again, she had to admit he was. _"In that picture only, and only because he's around my age in it…"_ Holley wasn't attracted to Finn, but had to awkwardly admit he was quite handsome in his younger years.

All three photos were in frames, positioned neatly in a row in the center of the short dresser. Holley looked up to see her reflection again, this time noticing Finn had more pictures. These were not in frames; some were taped while others had their corners or sides wedged into the frame of the mirror. They were of no importance, but Holley couldn't help but look at them all, wondering what silent stories they told. The photos captured happy moments, times of celebrations or pranks pulled for fun. There were a couple that she recognized, being there when the photo was taken. One in particular stood out the most. It was at the very top of the mirror, the only one up there to be exact. It was also one of the biggest, and it was a picture of Finn and Holley when the latter's training was over and she was a true field agent. Every new field agent gets their picture taken for a reason Holley could not recall. But she remembered standing next to Finn and feeling happy, and how proud he was of her. That picture showed a completely different side of Finn, one that Holley wondered was fake. The happiness in his aqua eyes, the proud smile he wore, how he was slightly leaning towards her… It just didn't seem possible that this picture was taken only months ago.

She reversed from the mirror, wondering if Finn kept those pictures there as some sort of motivation to keep him sane up until he snapped. Holley stole one last glance at herself, making sure the purple paint used to touch her up matched her own, and that she looked fully repaired. Except for the special dent she wished to keep, the spy looked flawless. The small smile she wore faded a bit. "I only look flawless on the outside…" she lamented quietly to herself. Holley could not even begin to count her new losses and her flaws on the inside. It was then that she realized Finn meant more to her than she ever knew, and because of him defecting, she now felt…different. Yet she had no idea what it was. Instead of wondering, Holley absent-mindedly turned around a little fast, not realizing how close her fender was to the edge of the bed.

 _Bonk_.

"Oh-!" Holley startled, suddenly backing away. Her quick movement made her back into the dresser, causing a drawer to get rattled out some. The dull pain from hitting the short wooden frame of the bed faded away quickly, and Holley looked over at the drawer. "Why am I such a klutz all of a sudden?" she breathed as though she were annoyed with herself. First breaking the bathroom drawer, then making a spray can fall on her, followed by breaking the mirror with the can, and now hitting the bed and dresser? "Maybe it's best I get out of here before I break anything expensive…" Holley crawled with her tires to turn herself, not trusting herself with a rolling turn. She started for the door, only stopping to close the drawer she had knocked open. But when she went to push it, the spy found it would not go. It had come more than halfway out somehow, and it just would not go back in easily. It was almost as if something was blocking it. Holley pushed it harder and heard a crinkling sound that time. _"That sounded like tape…"_ she thought and pulled the drawer out completely. Turning it over since it was empty, she found a small key taped to the underside. "Oh Finn…" she started. "What kinds of secrets do you have that need your bedroom locked and a key to hide them?"

Picking the key off the drawer with her utility arm, Holley looked around Finn's room for anything suspicious. Nothing stood out on the walls, nothing was behind the dresser, only more personal items were in the drawers, and there were only books and a box of Gask-its in the nightstand beside Finn's bed. Holley was surprised he liked those creme-filled cookies. Peering into the box revealed nothing but a few of the cookies made for vehicles. She closed box and the nightstand and reversed carefully, now facing the bed. She stared at it for a second, before noticing she had bumped it slightly out of alignment. Holley placed her left tire under it and pulled the end of the bed towards her, and used her right tire to push the front back into place. However, it was heavier at the head of the bed. Vehicles are naturally strong and powerful, so Holley moved it without trouble. But she did notice a difference in weight towards the front of the bed. "Now what?" Holley said exaggeratedly, not wanting to stay any longer than she already had. But her curiosity was stronger than her desire to leave, and she lifted the bed to see a metal box attached to the underside. A keyhole was visible. "Excellent place to hide things, Finn." Holley said sarcastically. She dropped the key, extended her utility arm, and pulled the box off the bed and towards her. However, when she tried the key, it would not work. So, she used her lock-picker. "It really helps to have this." Holley almost snickered, but didn't know how to feel about getting into Finn's stuff. But when she heard the click that signifies unlocking, a small part of her got excited to see what was inside. Holding her breath, she slowly opened the box to find…

Finn's old journal.

 **...**

"Your engine is now fully repaired, Mr. Gorvette. It'll be a bit sore for a few days, and the rest of your frame will be as well, actually. But until you've healed completely, no driving over forty-five miles an hour." the doctor instructed.

"Okay, I won't. Thanks for everything, doc, and try to have a good day." Jeff bid, turning to find the others. With everything that had happened, the farewell 'have a good day' now began with the words 'try to'. _"No going over forty-five? I can go up to 200 miles an hour! How long will this take?!"_ he thought with alarm. The Corvette winced slightly as he rolled along, feeling pain spiking in his front axle. He tried speeding up a little, but the sudden surge of power through his engine was too much, and he hissed through his teeth as the shock of the pain went through him. "Oooh, that did NOT feel good…" Jeff mumbled in a whisper. He lifted his gaze from his hood, searching the waiting area of the medical wing. His grey eyes met violet ones, and without showing he was in a lot of pain, the hurting Corvette made his way over to Silver. Francesco and Miguel were with her, the three being among the first released that day. "Hey guys…and gal." Jeff greeted.

"Hola, amigo." returned Miguel.

"Ciao, amico." Francesco did the same.

"Hello, friend." Silver just had to continue it. All four snickered a little.

"Are we done saying the same thing in different languages?" Jeff asked.

"Perhaps." Miguel looked Jeff from front to spoiler. "You look a lot better from when you first went in." he noted.

"I think we all do." Silver said.

"Aside from-a the paint jobs, at least." Francesco pointed out. "Francesco thinks we all feel better than-a how we look. Though you did not look too good coming over here, Jeff."

"Well, I tried going a little faster, but it hurt too much. The doctor said I can't go over forty-five miles an hour!" Jeff complained.

"Speak for yourself. I cannot go over forty!" Miguel said hastily, though he looked rather down.

"I can't go over forty, either." Silver added in. "All the Lemons' faults." Francesco snorted a tiny bit. "What's so funny?" pondered Silver.

"Oh, nothing." the Formula One racer said smugly. "Even-a injured, Francesco can probably still beat you all in a race." The other three looked at each other, amused.

"Oh really, Mr. I-Go-Over-300-Kilometers-An-Hour, what's your limit right now?" Jeff asked in a challenging tone. Francesco's confident demeanor disappeared in an instant.

"I cannot-a go over thirty-five…" he mumbled quietly.

"Because you're fragile." Silver poked. Francesco cut his rich brown eyes at her.

"Oh, _now_ you are-a pushing it, dear!" he scolded, trying to sound mad, but didn't hide the smile on his lips. He still had an ego the size of Russia, but at the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, Francesco became a lot nicer and friendlier. But he is still arrogant and full of himself at times, and his own number one fan. "You are lucky I cannot go over thirty-five. Even though he is-a fragile, Francesco showed what he could do in the fight!"

"Are you threatening me?" Silver accused, sidestepping away while pretending to be scared.

"Maybe. Francesco will never tell."

Just then, there was a loud squeaking of wheels behind the doors that led to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s hospital. Through the window of the waiting room, everyone could see a bed go by. A white sheet covered a large vehicle-shaped mound, and the forklift pushing the bed looked solemn. A sad, unsettling feeling blanketed the waiting room, and everyone just stared at the floor.

"Do you think we'll ever have to do this again?" Jeff whispered, his grey eyes looking dull, sad, and worried. "I don't really want to, even if those Lemons deserved it."

"I hope not." Miguel breathed out slowly. "The simulations were fun, but I do not particularly enjoy taking the lives of other vehicles, either. And losing our own? I have met some agents, but I am glad I never got super close to anyone here other than Finn, Holley, and you, Silver. Even if we did lose Finn, at least he did not die."

"I'm glad none of you new recruits got killed. I'm not the greatest when it comes to losing friends, either, Miguel." Silver sighed out, at that moment not wanting to think about her first love…

"I am not fond of-a killing, either, but I know for a fact that I do not want to just sit here while those Lemons are out there, planning something." Francesco said with a hint of anger in his accent. Jeff and Miguel looked at each other, silently coming to terms that they both agreed with the statement. But before either of them could say anything, the door opened, revealing Max coming with his left eyelids shut. His right eye looked very watery, and he seemed to have trouble seeing with it. Behind him was Rip looking worriedly at a bandage wrapped around his front, in front of his eyes and behind his front tires. A red stain was on it, seeming to grow bigger the more he stared at it.

"Max, i-it's getting bigger!" Rip panicked.

"Then quit looking at it und vorrying about it!" Max instructed in a strained voice that didn't sound like his own. He coughed hard, tiny droplets of blood coming from his mouth as he did. The sedan cursed in German, going back and forth from coughing to breathing heavily every three seconds. "Verdammt! Vhy, _vhy_ did this have to happen to me?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Max! I didn't mean to make you mad!" Rip said frantically, not wanting his friend to hurt himself.

"It is okay, Rip." Max paused to hack once more and clear his throat. "I am just mad at those Lemons und vhat they did to us." The German racer looked at the red oil stain on Rip's bandage. "Your oil pressure is very high because you keep stressing out. That is vhat is causing it to bleed more. Just calm down."

"How can I stay calm?" the New Rearendian fretted. "I'm starting to feel like Mater now! A lot has happened! I KILLED vehicles, for Dodge's sake! We lost our leader because he turned EVIL! This whole facility is badly DAMAGED!" Poor Rip was starting to panic. Max placed a tire on the shorter racer's fender.

"Whoa, Rip, calm down! Stop panicking over all that has happened! Take it easy!" he urged, applying pressure to the fender so Rip wouldn't just dart away or hurt himself more. "I do not like vhat happened as much as you do not. But it vas all for a reason, und be glad none of us died." Rip seemed to relax at the thought. He was still stressed, as his bandage was almost completely soaked, but he calmed down considerably.

"Thanks, Max. Um, I think I need a new bandage…" Rip looked at his once white cloth tied around his front.

"I think you do, too." Max gestured to the door, and Rip turned around to go back in. When he opened the door, he nearly ran into Sheriff.

"Good heavens, what happened to you?" the old Mercury queried in shock at the crimson bandage.

"Stress. At least, that's what Max told me." Rip answered. Sheriff rolled out from the doorframe and watched the once colorful racer (who had now lost most of his paint) disappear behind the doors.

"He didn't know stress causes wounds to bleed? I guess he's never experienced that before." Sheriff remarked. Max shrugged his tires.

"Rip is the youngest of us Vorld Grand Prix Racers. He told me he has never been in a wreck before, until his engine blew up during the race in Tokyo. Mine did too." he recalled.

"I remember hearing about that. Y'all are lucky to have survived those races." Sheriff said.

"Yes, und ve are all lucky to have survived vhat happened here." Max began making his way over to Silver, Francesco, Jeff, and Miguel, with Sheriff behind him. He began his fit of coughing again, close enough to the four that they could hear a sputtering sound along with the hacking.

"Dang, Max, are you alright?" Jeff asked worriedly when the two approached. "Your coughing sounds like it's gonna blow this place down!"

"I," Max paused to let out an especially long cough that sounded like it hurt. "Oh, excuse my hacking, please… I am okay, besides my eye und my voice." He cleared his throat extra hard, causing some red oil to seep from the left corner of his mouth. Nobody saw it until it dripped on the floor, of course.

"Yeesh, what even happened to you, Max? You're bleeding from the mouth!" Silver pointed out.

"I vas hit very hard on the left side of my vindshield, vhich cracked it right over my eye. Luckily, no glass got in my pupil or iris, but some got into my eye around it." Max's voice cracked, and he coughed some more. "Oh, all this coughing huuuuurts…" he mumbled. "Anyvay, I need a new vindshield, but the doctor took off the cracked half, vhich is vhy I am keeping my left eye closed." He opened it, revealing an extremely watery and red eye. The others cringed at the sight. "As for my voice, I vas thrown front-first up at von point, und my throat area vas hit hard enough to injure it und mess up my voice."

"I hope it goes back to normal soon." Francesco stated. "Francesco is-a not used to hearing you sound this way, Max."

"Trust me, I am not either…"

Just then, another bed rolled by the window on its way to C.H.R.O.M.E's morgue. The body shape did not look like anyone the six cars recognized

"How many was it this time?" Miguel asked quietly.

"I don't know." Silver shrugged. "Usually my dad tells me, like he did last time." The five vehicles looked at her, frames half raised.

"Your father works here?" questioned Jeff. He was surprised to see Silver's expression change to a 'wow' one.

"Oh, my Ford… I can't believe I forgot my father works here! Ohhhhhh he's gonna get me for not telling him I came to C.H.R.O.M.E. three months ago!" Silver admitted frantically. Her face fell when she saw the faces of her five friends turn to laughing ones. "What?"

"How do you forget, for three entire months, that your own father works as a spy here?" Miguel tried his best to keep from laughing but failed.

"I didn't have time to tell him. We were busy training." was Silver's answer.

"Right. I am-a sure that is why." Francesco doubted with a smirk.

"Well, who is he?" Sheriff asked.

"You all have probably met him." Silver shook her hood slightly, smiling. "No one can seem to believe he's my dad, though. Let's see if any of you can believe it." The Malibu looked past Sheriff and Max, noticing a shy TrailBlazer coming around the corner. His green eyes landed on the group.

"Silver?" he called.

"Yeah, I'm over here, dad!" Silver watched the five faces turn to shock. Blaze came driving to his daughter quickly.

"Oh my goodness! Silver are you okay?" he asked frantically. He hugged her and slid his tire over her dented fender. "No offense sweetheart, but you look terrible."

"I know, it was those stupid Lemons!" Silver complained. "But at least I'm alive, right?"

"Yeah, but you should have told me you were here!" Blaze backed up a bit to get a better look at his daughter. "What have I told you before, young lady?"

"To always tell you when I come here…" Silver said sheepishly.

"Uh-huh. And how long have you been here?"

"Three months…"

" _Three months_?!"

"Yeah… We were training." Silver reversed between Max and Miguel to avoid any parenting wrath from her father. "I'm in for it now… Save me…" she whispered to them. They were still too surprised to say anything, though, and just looked at her.

"Training or not, you have to tell me where you are at all times." Blaze lightly scolded.

"Dad, you don't have to worry about me twenty-four seven." Silver tried arguing. "You're never like this about Tauren!"

"That's because your brother is a very large vehicle who can take down almost anybody. He works at that insane asylum, and you know how dangerous those guys are. Tauren is there all the time, but you are all over the place. So perhaps I do have to worry about you more. You're a field agent everywhere in America, while I'm a desk agent in London, England. Of course I'm gonna worry about my daughter sometimes! Besides, it's a parental thing. You wouldn't understand." Blaze brushed off any more attempts he daughter might try. "It's only natural for a father to be concerned with where his spy-daughter is at." Silver rolled her eyes.

"Okay dad, I get it, I get it." she groaned. "I'll remember next time." She chuckled and looked at Max, then Miguel. "Parents, am I right? Always wanting to know where you're at." Miguel stared at her with his mouth open in a shocked state, Max and the other three the same way.

"Hold on a minute, now." Miguel began. "Señor Blaze, is your _father_?" Silver nodded.

"I thought you were much younger!" Sheriff admitted to the TrailBlazer.

"I always get that." Blaze laughed. "No one believes it at first, but yes, Silver is my kid. I also have a son named Tauren who's older than Sil, if you couldn't guess."

"I would have never guessed you had two kids. You just don't look, act, or sound like you're old enough to have a son and daughter who are adults." Jeff commented.

"Well, I do indeed. Got married at a young age, had Tauren manufactured that same year, then two years later went back to the factory and got her." Blaze pointed to Silver. "And if you're wondering how old I am, just keep guessing."

"You honestly look like you're thirty, but you can't be." Sheriff reiterated. Blaze smiled at him.

"Thanks, I will gladly take that compliment because I wish I still was thirty."

Across the room, Rip came back out through the doors with a new bandage. He looked a lot more relaxed, too. "Hey, guys." he said calmly when he went over to the group. "I feel great now."

"Vhat happened to you?" asked Max.

"Doctor gave me some tranquilizer thing. I can't remember what he called it, but the needle going in my engine didn't feel good." Rip settled himself on the floor, slightly leaning on Max. "I wonder if he gave me too much. I feel tired…"

"I think it vas just enough. Und please do not fall asleep on me… I vould like to move." Max moved to the side, Rip not noticing.

In another part of the hospital, Duchess was released from the doctor. She made her way out a side door to avoid as many vehicles in the waiting room as she could. She passed by Luigi and Guido, hearing them say something about the fight not being what they thought it would be.

"Hello, Duchess." the Elantra heard Luigi say.

"Oh, hi guys." she responded, slowing her pace.

"Ciao." Guido waved.

"Are you guys feeling okay today?" Duchess asked.

"Better than we were three days ago." Luigi looked down at his hood, which had a nasty-looking gash across it. "I know I will feel better once my hood gets replaced and my engine stops-a hurting."

"Maybe you'll get a new hood soon." Duchess started backing away slowly, not wanting to be rude and just abandon them without a care. But she had to avoid somebody she hadn't seen in three days. Actually, she had just seen him, but ignored him and only gave him a worried look as she purposely ran from him. "I would love to stay and chat with you two, but I have something, um, important to do."

"Piace che cosa?" Guido asked.

"Um, stuff. Just a call to someone who I'm sure would like to know what has happened." Duchess began driving away. "I'll see you guys later!" she added cheerfully, although she didn't feel the same as how her voice sounded. She continued making her way towards a hall, stopping only once to let a group of vehicles pass. _"Okay… I need a room with a phone… Now where would that be?"_ Duchess gazed around the large hallway, seeing many rooms, but not one with a sign for a telephone. Feeling quite exposed out in the open, she darted into a random room where she discovered a map of the facility. "Perfect!" Duchess raised up on her front axles and searched for the map's key. Quickly spotting it and finding the 'telephone' symbol, she found a room close by to where she was that had one. "Okay, it looks like it's all the way… _What_? I have to go all the way to the other side of this place into the other building, just for the privacy phones?!" Unfortunately, the secured-line telephones were in C.H.R.O.M.E.'s main building, not the medical wing. Also unfortunately, Duchess needed one of those, but she had to get there while avoiding someone.

As soon as the Elantra opened the door to the main area of the hospital, she heard quiet talk here and there as C.H.R.O.M.E. agents bustled around, still trying to take care of things from the incident three days before. Duchess saw vehicles she recognized, but no one she knew. It seemed like all her new friends had gotten the most injured, so they were either still in the hospital here, or camping out in the waiting room because they weren't allowed to leave yet. Either way, Duchess was glad; it meant she could avoid them better if they were all in one spot, especially one in particular. So ignoring the pain in her suspension and the weakness in her wheels, she took off as best she could in the direction of the main building. She reached her speed limit too quickly, she thought, as getting up to forty and not speeding past that was like a young vehicle's nightmare. But she managed to make it to the waiting room area without being called aside or stopped. However, Duchess just had to stop to see where this was going to go: Shu and Carla coming out of the doors, followed by Chick wearing a bloody bandage over his right eye. Carla must have been hurt real bad since she wasn't driving upright; she was leaning on Shu for support. Unsurprisingly, Chick felt he needed to make a comment about everything.

"Aw, would ya look at the love-cars?" the green racer taunted loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"What?" Carla asked, already sounding annoyed with the mustached bully. "Love-cars? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, just a couple of cars who must be together." Chick casually assumed. "I mean, he's helping you drive and all. Don't deny it."

"We are not a couple!" Shu declared. "I am only being kind to a friend in need of help." He directed Carla over towards their group of friends on the other side of the waiting area.

"Oh yeah, sure. You're just 'being kind', huh? I bet you two are together but are too embarrassed to tell anyone! Hm, but if you're not together, then that means Carla is just weak because she's a woman and needs help from a man!" Chick burst out, clearly not any different from when he first arrived at the Academy. It surprised everyone, for surely he would have had a small attitude adjustment, especially after the attack. Obviously, nothing had any effect on him.

"One, why would we announce that we are together, if we are not together?" Shu asked, irritated. "And two, why are you being so disrespectful to Carla suddenly?" Even slightly strained, his voice had clear bitterness in it towards the retired Piston Cup racer.

"But you could be, and you could be embarrassed is what I'm saying." Chick threw back at Shu, ignoring the question. "You don't have much of a sense of humor, do you?"

"And you do not know how to make funny jokes, do you?" Carla snapped. She wasn't having it today with him. "Nor do you know what kindness is, from what I have heard. And what is wrong with me needing help from a friend?"

Chick was actually taken aback by her two statements. But he continued being himself. "Maybe I do know how to make funny jokes, but you don't know how to laugh!" he snapped back, not used to hearing cars speak to him that way. Especially not ladies. "And nothing is wrong with needing help from a friend. Unless you call yourself 'independent'!" That comment sparked a small rage inside everyone in the room.

"Oh, would you be quiet? Have you no other thing to do than act this way?" Shu hardly bit back the anger in his voice. "Perhaps this is why Lightning-san told us to stay away from you, since you are a…well, I refuse to repeat the vocabulary he used to describe you. And he told us of how you cheat to win, and the horrendous act you committed to obtain the only Piston Cup you possess." It seemed Shu wasn't having it with Hicks today, either. "Forget my earlier inquire. I can tell you have no other thing to do than act this way. It is shameful, really!"

"And you are very lucky I am injured and cannot beat your-"

"Whoa, now, you three!" Blaze called out, cutting Carla off from whatever she was about to say. "No need to get hateful!" The shy TrailBlazer went quiet under Chick's harsh gaze.

"You can stay outta this!" the racer spat coldly. "What, too afraid to say anything back?" he added when Blaze said nothing.

"Can you not cut the attitude? He is right. There is no need to get hateful!" Shu cut his eyes towards Chick, earning the same look back.

"Also, that's my father you're talking to, Hicks." Silver warned with a dangerous look in her violet eyes. "I suggest you stop right now."

"Oh, and what are you going to do, huh? What's HE going to do? I know he's just a desk agent, nothing special at all! And you, well, women don't scare me!" Chick lurched forward, saying all that in a challenging tone.

"Chick, what is wrong with you?" Jeff demanded. "I know you've always been a jerk, but today you're so much worse!"

"Nothing is wrong with me, Gorvette!" Chick barked. "I'm perfectly fine! Yes, perfectly fine! What are you looking at, Bernoulli?" Francesco backed up a couple of inches.

"Why are you attacking me?" he asked, a bit surprised.

"You keep staring at me, and it's pissing me off!" Chick growled.

"Maybe it is because-a the way you are acting. Highly immature!" Francesco bit back a snarl. That only prompted Chick to nearly blow up in anger.

"Why is everybody telling me I'm acting differently?! I'm just in pain is all!" Chick nearly yelled. His oil pressure had gone through the roof as every gash on his metal body was leaking red oil.

"Ve are all in pain, but you do not see anyvon else acting the vay you are!" Max had turned around and was glaring at Chick with his right eye.

"Oh, don't pull that bulldozer crap on me, Schnell!" Chick spat. "Unless you're trying to challenge me, in which you could get-"

" ** _ENOUGH_ _!_** " Max bellowed, his voice as loud and powerful as a fog horn and a train horn. It echoed throughout the whole entire building and vibrated the chassis of every vehicle in the waiting area. Everyone around jumped, even backing away from the German in slight fear and total unbelieving that such a yell could come from Max. However, such a cry came with consequences, and Max was thrown into a horrible fit of coughing so terrible and painful-sounding, that even Chick did nothing but shrink back a bit. Silver stroked her tire along Max's side.

"Easy there, _Maximum_. Don't strain yourself. Look, you're coughing out blood again!" she said, looking at the slowly growing tiny puddle. "We'll handle Chick."

"I-I can n-not help it, Silver… Und leave him to me…" Max said in a near-whisper. He glared up at Chick with both eyes open. "Ve do not kn-know vhat your problem is, und I c-certainly have no idea either." The racecar began rolling towards Chick, making the green car back into the wall when he got too close. "But vhat I am certain of, i-is I svear if you hurt anyvon of these cars here, I vill be coming for you, just so you know…" Max's voice was low and extremely threatening, and he was raised up on his axles, just adding to his dominant demeanor.

Chick shrunk back, feeling over-intimidated by the much larger sedan towering over him. He gazed into Max's harsh blue stare, unable to find it in himself to say a rebuttal. He could only say one thing. "H-have you lost your vision, too?" Chick's voice was unheard by almost everyone except for Max, Shu, and Carla.

"No. My eye vill h-heal over time." Max's eyes landed on the bandage keeping Chick's right eye shut. He cleared his throat to stop stuttering. "Did you lose your vision in your right eye? Is that vhy you are so aggressive?"

"I don't know. Maybe. What would that have to do with anything?" Chick's voice sparked again with slight anger.

"Because some vehicles vill become aggressive vhen they lose something vital." Max brought himself closer to Chick, keeping the green racer at bay. "But it is no excuse to take anger out on everyvon or threaten us."

"But-" Chick started with a mad expression.

"Aht! I do not vant to hear it from you anymore, Hicks!" Max lowered himself back to his normal height and stance, but he was still bigger than Chick. "Now go back in there und get yourself cleaned up. Und maybe ask if you can have vhatever vas given to Rip to calm down."

Chick only stared as if he wanted to kill Max but was far too afraid to touch him.

" _Gehen!_ "

Number 86 obeyed, muttering something under his breath about 'if I were bigger…'.

Back over just outside the waiting area, Duchess was just as shocked as everyone else. "Now _that_ was worth the wait." she said in a soft voice, though it was heard by all. "You sure are scary, Max."

"Oh, hallo. I did not even know you vere here, Duchess." Max started coughing again, making his way back over to where he originally was. "I vould not consider myself 'scary', but it seems that is vhat most vehicles call me. I suppose-" he paused to cough again. "ahem, suppose you could say I am protective of my friends."

"Obviously. Though now I definitely feel safer with you around." Duchess smiled.

"Oh, Duchess? I think you might like to know that Raoul is looking for you." Carla informed. The Elantra's expression turned to 'oh dear'.

"Um, he is? Where is he?" she asked in a slightly nervous tone.

"He is in the other part of the hospital." Carla was a bit confused by Duchess's tone. "He looks pretty bad, but the doctor is making him drive around to strengthen his axles. You do not seem like you want to see him."

"It's not that I don't, I just… Need to do something important is all. See ya!" With that, Duchess took off. Not very fast, of course. They all watched her go, just in time too, as Raoul poked his front through the door.

"Is she avoiding me?" he asked quietly, startling Shu and Carla who still hadn't made their way to the other side of the room yet. Raoul had been behind that door, too afraid to come out during the argument. Max and Chick really must have been scary; not even seeing Duchess, the love of his life, could bring Raoul out.

"From what I can observe, yes." Shu said plainly. "Chase her down, find out what is wrong."

"I shall do just zat."

Across from those three…

"Wonder why she's always so secretive." Sheriff remarked, watching Duchess go. "I mean, she's a very kind vehicle and has a great personality, but she seems to keep a lot of things to herself."

"Perhaps there is a reason. I asked her about it, and all she told me was her past is rough." Miguel explained. "I stopped asking after that." Sheriff nodded.

"Makes sense."

 **...**

Making the journey to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s main building felt like it took miles upon miles. Add the sense of feeling bad about ignoring someone and neglecting to tell them it's for a good reason, and that just makes it even longer. Going at only forty was the most frustrating thing to Duchess, especially when she was in a hurry. She also wanted to repeatedly yell 'ow' every full turn her wheels did, since that was what hurt the most. Actually, she did say 'ow' about ninety times in one minute, but the sparse number of vehicles scattered around heard her and just gave her a weird look. Instead she just smiled painfully and greeted everyone she passed. Finally, she made it to the grand hallway that led to the main building. Duchess wasted no time going through the doors and straight down the first hall she came upon, but one problem stood: She forgot where the secured-line telephones were. The whole scene Chick made back there made her recent memory slip. "Oh, that's just swell…" Duchess mumbled.

"Are you in need of assistance, ma'am?"

"Whoa, huh? Oh, hello, you startled me." Duchess breathed out in an airy laugh, turning to face a vehicle behind her.

"I'm terribly sorry, miss." the stranger apologized. He was a dark blue older car with a deepish, thick British accent that Duchess immediately loved. "I just saw you limping around, looking quite lost. May I help you?"

Duchess exhaled a sigh of relief. "Yes. Can you direct me to the secured-line phones? I kinda need to make an important call to someone important to me."

"Certainly." The older gentlecar nodded towards the end of the hall. "Right this way, miss." He led her down the long hallway and down another, shorter one. They passed through a few rooms until coming to an elevator. "Take this to the fourth floor, and the telephones are the last room on the left."

"Okay, thanks." Duchess quickly got on the elevator and found herself on a different floor in seconds.

The fourth floor was barren and not a soul was to be seen. The Elantra felt tiny and out-of-place in the hall that seemed far too tall and wide for the building. It was quiet, too. So quiet in fact, that up until now, Duchess had no idea a rattling sound emitted from her every time she drove, or that her brakes let out a high-pitched squeal every time she applied them. Turning to the left, she made her way to the end where she found the exact rooms she needed. But before she could make her way in there…

"Ahem."

Duchess froze. Glancing in her right mirror, she saw a familiar face staring back at her, closer than he appeared, unfortunately. She turned and met his gaze. "Oh, hey Raoul. Didn't see you there. Actually, didn't know you were behind me this whole time."

"Hello to you as well." Raoul looked at Duchess, expressionless. "I must ask, why were you avoiding me back zhere?" he asked, almost hurt-sounding.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to ignore you, but I have important business to take care of…" Duchess trailed off when Raoul came right up to her.

"Zat is okay. You can take care of whatever it is you must. I just wanted to see you and make sure you were alright." Raoul smiled and nodded, beginning to turn to leave.

"No, wait."

"Yes?"

"I do want to talk to you as well…"

"Oh? Well, whatever it is, it can wait. Zis zhing you must do sounds important."

"No, no, it's fine." Duchess drove into a conference room rather than the phone room. Raoul followed, closing the door. The two just stood in uncomfortable silence, looking nervously at each other.

"Um, well, a-about zat incident zhree days ago…" Raoul started awkwardly. "So, you actually meant everyzhing?"

"Yes." Even though she had already admitted it before, it was still hard to say for Duchess. "And, and I was really going to kiss you!" she blurted out without thinking. Duchess decided to keep going. "Because I'm actually coming to love you! I wish I could undo every time I ignored you, I want to be with you, and I don't know what to do!" she told him. Raoul stared at her, elated about how she felt, but slightly confused by her last remark.

"What do you mean you are unsure of what to do, love?" he wondered.

To hear him say that, the Elantra felt more at ease. She smiled and blushed, though Raoul did not see the second. "I'm just…as you said, unsure of what to do. Never mind all of it. It's just stuff I have never told anyone." Duchess admitted. "I just don't like talking about it." Raoul came closer to her.

"Zen we shall not talk about it." He brushed his lips against her cheek, sending a sudden shiver through the Elantra's frame. "But zhere is one zhing we can resume, before we were rudely interrupted." Raoul pulled away, but it was like a gravitational force was pulling Duchess to him; she found herself rolling towards him as he reversed.

"It's been a very stressful time for us all." she said in a quiet voice. "And with all the seriousness going on around… A-and not knowing what to do… And I uh…" Duchess found herself in Raoul's eyes; her tiny, clear reflection staring back within the black void of his pupils. "…I need to relieve some stress…" she added slowly. Her mind reminded her that she and Raoul were not dating, but her metaphorical heart told her to 'go for it'. Once again, they closed eyes and their lips just barely brushed when…

"HOW ARE YOU TWO SO DADGUM CALM?!" As fate would have it, out of nowhere a familiar rusty tow truck came bursting through the door, nearly scaring the two hatchbacks to death. "How is ANYBODY calm?!" Mater left as soon as he had appeared. Voices down the hall could be heard telling him to 'come back here!' or 'you haven't gotten your meds at all yet!' and 'three days later and we _still_ haven't caught this guy…'.

Both Raoul and Duchess just about leaked themselves, being in absolute silence and all. They just stared at each other, saying nothing and waiting until their engines stopped pulsing so fast.

"What…is with that guy?" Duchess breathed out quickly.

"I have not zee slightest idea." Raoul uttered.

"I'm really sorry, Raoul, but I have to go! This phone call is actually really important!" Duchess nervously said. She had been thrown back into reality by Mater's sudden arrival, and really didn't want to wait any longer. Raoul's face fell at the announcement. "I am so sorry, Rally…" Duchess felt a tiny wave of embarrassment hit her, but it disappeared when Raoul smiled at the nickname.

"It is okay. Do what you must, my Duchess." He backed up to let her pass, but she didn't go by without doing absolutely nothing. It was a small one, but Duchess pressed her lips to the corner of Raoul's mouth, giving him a tiny kiss. She sped away before he could react.

The room with the secured-line telephones had five smaller, enclosed rooms with a secure phone in each. Duchess went into one of them, finding it was lined with thick, soundproof padding. _"Whoa… These spies mean ultimate secretive business when it comes to making calls…"_ she thought. Pressing a button that made the phone pop out of the wall and unfold, Duchess began to dial her sister's number. A screen popped up that said the number was in Oklahoma, USA and that it was secure and nobody could track it. A couple rings later, and a familiar voice came over the phone.

"Hello?"

"Lady, it's Duchess."

All the way in America, a red 2012 Hyundai Accent was on the phone in her dorm at college, unaware of everything. "Duchess? I haven't heard from you in so long! Where have you been? Where are you right now?"

"Well, to answer your questions, I've been to several countries within a week, and have been staying in England these past three months." Duchess told her. "But I'm still in London right now."

"Several countries? What exactly are you doing, spy-sis?" Lady questioned.

"Heh heh, a lot." Duchess stopped. "Is anyone else with you?"

"I'm alone."

"Perfect. I have a crapload to tell you."

And so Duchess told Lady everything. She told her of how and why she arrived at C.H.R.O.M.E. in utter chaos, and how she was asked to go around the world gathering these champion racers. She told about the first surprise attack and the second that just happened. She even told of meeting a handsome French car by the name of Raoul ÇaRoule and immediately regretted it. Apparently, Lady knew exactly who that was and is a big fan of his; she also thinks he's gorgeous, too. Duchess just told her sister about everything, leaving nothing out. Lady was all-too worried when she heard everything.

"You arrived at a spy HQ being destroyed by evil cars and saved it by yourself, went around the world meeting super famous racecars and recruiting them as agents, and you were in a fight that killed a lot of spies and ended with your leader turning traitor, and you expect me NOT to worry? Are you insane like that what's-his-name?!" Lady panicked into the phone.

"His name is Finn, and no I'm not." Duchess bit her lip, hoping her younger sister wouldn't alert anyone around the dorm. She knew Lady had a loud mouth, and those college dorms weren't soundproofed. "I'm not insane, I just don't want you to make a huge commotion and get unwanted attention."

"Well, I can't help but worry about you all the time." Lady confessed in a quieter tone. "Watching you become a spy and going solo on dangerous missions has always been stressful. Add in college, and that makes stress ten times worse." There was a pause. "I'm coming to London."

"Lady, you can't. You have college." Duchess reminded. "I can take care of myself here."

"You told me Raoul saved you from a piece of exploded wall because you didn't move in time. Are you totally sure?"

"Yes. He's still here and can save me from more walls." Duchess added comically. "No one knows that I have a sister because I haven't told anyone about you yet. Not that I can remember, at least…" Duchess trailed off, scared that she couldn't remember, then became serious. "Now, I'm going to have to go since my whole body is killing me and I'm nowhere near the hospital in this place. So before I go, you have got to stay safe. This call is secured, meaning no one can track, record, or hack into it. Don't call me because you don't have that on your phone, so only I can call you. I will try to call at least once a week, depending on what happens. Remember everything I taught you, and at this point and because of Mystery, _don't_ trust anyone."

There was a pause as Lady took everything in. "Okay, I won't call you and I will be safe. Don't trust anybody? But no one knows who I am, and neither are they after me."

"That's what they want you to think, dear sister of mine." Duchess said with a slight accent. "Trust me, as a spy, I have been taught that and I have experience in the field. You never know who could be out there looking for you."

"But no one is, is what I'm saying."

"Like I said, that's only what they want you to think. With everything happening the way it is, you never know what will happen in the future…"

Outside the room with the telephones, Raoul just about died from the tiny kiss he received. But after relishing the moment of almost-dream-come-true, he had been waiting by the window and watching Duchess's expressions as she talked on the phone. The Elantra had not noticed the small window that allowed outsiders to peek in, nor did she see the window on the door of her tiny call room. "Who could she be talking with?" Raoul wondered quietly out loud. He sat there pondering over a few things in his mind until the door opened and Duchess came out.

"Oh, I see you waited for me." she discovered with a hint of happiness in her voice.

"Of course. Was I not supposed to?" Raoul questioned. Duchess laughed.

"Yes, you were." They stood in silence again for a moment.

"So, who was zat you were talking with?" Raoul finally asked.

"Umm…" Duchess hesitated for a second. _"Can I trust him to know about Lady?"_ she wondered. "I haven't told anyone about her, but I was on the phone with my sister." Duchess had rolled forward and spoke quietly so only Raoul would hear.

"I was unaware you had a sister." he said equally as quiet.

"Yeah, her name is Lady and she is a pain in the bumper sometimes, but I love her." Duchess and Raoul both laughed softly. "But aren't all siblings that way?"

"I suppose."

"She is a huge fan of yours, by the way."

"What? Zen she is no pain in zee bumper at all! No fans of mine are!" Raoul proclaimed proudly.

"Oh, trust me if you lived with her your whole life, you'd feel the same way. She's always been the 'princess' since she was little." Duchess smiled. "But I think I did good looking out for her during it all…" she whispered to herself.

"What did you say?"

"Uh, nothing. Old, stupid stuff." Duchess quickly lied. She winced at a slight pain spike in her front axle. "I think we should get back to the hospital area. I hurt all over."

"I do as well." Raoul turned with Duchess siding next to him. _"Sheriff was right… You are secretive, my sweet…"_ he thought. _"_ _But someday I will find out everyzhing about you, Duchess…"_

 **...**

Finding the thing that contained Finn McMissile's personal thoughts was both gold and scary. Gold because maybe this would provide insight into the situation, and scary because Holley was terrified of finding something she wouldn't like. But she climbed onto Finn's bed with the journal and opened it anyway. There was nothing on the front pages, except some yellowing spots where the book showed its age. It had to have been over twenty years old, maybe older, but there was not a date to be seen. Holley flipped through some pages and found some writing finally. It was in Finn's neat print, but there was no date to be seen.

 _I got this journal just to write down important events that occur. Leland has one too, but he keeps our missions written down in that one. I most likely will not fill this book completely, but no one else is going to see this but me._

 _Finn M._

"And me." Holley monotoned, wondering if her ex-partner would kill her for nosing around. _"Kill me in a joking way, or would he actually do away with me?"_ she wondered. She turned the page.

 _Nothing too important happened today, except new field agents graduating from the Academy. There was one that went with Leland and me on an assignment to help and observe to gain experience of being an agent. It went well and he did great._

Holley turned more pages, finding a few more little things jotted down about random, everyday things. It wasn't that interesting to read since Finn didn't write much, nor did he describe any adventurous missions. According to Finn, those were found in Leland's journal, and Dodge knows where that was. She sighed when she got to several blank pages, indicating when the owner had stopped writing. "Really, Finn? Why have this locked up if there's nothing important in here?" Holley whispered to it. She was about to roll off his bed when she noticed something peculiar about the pages towards the end. The edges looked a bit crinkled as opposed to the completely straight pages in the front. A small hint of excitement filled her as soon as she thought she had found something. Holley carefully opened the book to the strange-looking page and stared at it. It looked like it had been attacked, with a tire tread impression barely visible, like the book had a tire slammed down on it long ago. The page and the ones behind it appeared to have been stabbed with the pen used to write an angrily written message among the mess:

 _I CANNOT believe what happened to me!_

Messy slashes made with the pen were below the message.

 _'Those sick scientists got ahold of me and USED ME for something HORRIBLE!'_

Was scribbled quickly across, like the writer didn't have a care in the world of how it looked. And written as hastily as one could write, slashed around the rest of the page were the three words:

 _IT CHANGED ME!_

Holley could do nothing but stare, chills running through her body. Nobody but Finn had written in this book, she could tell by the tire writing. Turning the page only revealed more strange things, including a few red oil drops and possible tear stains. Finn had written more things.

 _I was used…_

 _I feel different…_

 _I hurt all over… Why do I hurt so much?_

 _What happened to me?_

 _What did they do to me?!_

 _WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME?!_

 _I… have… a…_

 _I still can't believe I have a…_

 _What will Harold say? I could lose my job because of those scientists!_

 _Would it be better to die?_

 _I almost WANT to die!_

 _But I can't…_

 _I am…_

 _…no longer me…_

 _Finn McMissile is…_

 _…dead._

That was the scariest thing Holley had ever read. Now, she was terrified of knowing the truth about Finn. She sunk down into his bed and searched the rest of the page. All around the page were more writings on top of each other, but Holley could decipher only those sixteen. The whole page looked like a vehicle from an insane asylum had a mental attack and just wrote down their feelings on a small page. A small page not big enough for everything, rather than a large wall. Holley almost wished Finn wrote on a wall like a real insane vehicle, just so she could read what else he wrote. He most definitely was angry at whatever these scientists did to him, since he bore down so hard with the pen that it ripped through some parts of the page. _"Wait, they CHANGED him?"_ Holley thought, rereading over some of the slew of curse words and anger Finn wrote all over the page. _"What on EARTH did they do to him?!"_ She quickly turned the page, suddenly feeling sick as if Finn's old anger and negativity was physically overwhelming her.

The next page was blank, save for everything that bled through from the previous one. She turned the page again, still finding more ink from two pages back. It was when Holley went to the third when she found something. This time, it was neater, but still held anger.

 _I do not know what I am going to do. I feel awful, just AWFUL and really feel the need to go back… Oh, those scientists will PAY for what they did… Especially Sylavere…_

 _I got what I need, and now I haven't the slightest idea of what to do._

The rest was blank, so Holley turned the page. Her engine stopped for a moment when she read the second sentence:

 _I never knew how hard it was to keep secrets until now. I cannot believe Holley Shiftwell is my new spy partner…_

"Whoa, what?" Holley perplexed in shock, flipping through the last pages. All that was written was the Allinol mission, and nothing else. Except for the very last page.

 _No one can know. Especially not her. Not yet, and possibly not ever…_

Holley almost threw the book at the wall. Nothing, absolutely nothing made sense! Finn didn't describe what happened to him, he wrote a bunch of random things that went together, but made no sense to her, and why could he not believe she was his partner? Holley looked down at the back of the last page again. _Especially not her._ She knew 'her' referred to herself, so what was Finn keeping secret from her?

"GAH!" the purple spy growled in frustration. She almost uncovered what was wrong with her ex-partner, as he wrote how he felt, but he failed to write what actually happened! And now he was keeping secrets from her? "Oh, my Dodge… Finn, when I find you I am going to _!_ beat all this information out of you!" Holley yelled the last seven words, including one not-so-nice word before 'beat'. She looked down at the book with anger, but pushed it away and collapsed on the bed. All the heartbreak, the stress, the physical and emotional pain, the worry, the false calmness she was putting on, everything caught up to her all at once and released itself in an angry sentence. She realized she just couldn't hurt Finn, no matter what happened. Holley willed herself not to cry again but failed. Her tears of frustrating confusion welled up and slid down her hood, creating a dark circle on Finn's pillow. She gazed at it for a second, watching more of her watery confusing frustration fall into the expanding dot. It started to take a different shape, looking more like a heart than a circle. Part of Holley took that as a sign. She did love Finn enough to where she would never, ever intentionally hurt him. There was no way she was going to try and hurt her ex-partner, one of her best friends. Even if there was a great age difference between them, Holley still considered him a best friend and trusted him with her life. Although now she didn't trust him that much anymore, there was one thing on her mind.

Get Finn back, no matter what.

Looking once more at the book whose pages had fallen back to the Allinol ones, she saw Miles Axlerod's name. That was her first target to question. "Time to get my partner back." Holley said determinedly. She got off the bed and took the book with her along with the key and weapon she found. Pulling up to the dresser, she gazed at the picture of her and Finn. "I will find you, Finn. And I will get you back."

* * *

 _ **Okay... Pretty sure this chapter was about 9,980 words long, and 23 pages long! At least, that's what Google Docs told me. Not sure how FFN does word counts, but it was up over 10,000 on this site when I copy-and-pasted it, for some reason.**_

 _ **Whatever; you made it through another long chapter! Next one will be started whenever I can think of something good. And the other vehicles' opinions will be revealed in chapter 11 because I wrote too much in this one XD.**_

 _ **Anyone else think I made Chick too mean in this chapter? I felt like I did, which is why I made Jeff point it out hahaha. I feel like there might have been a few "weird" parts in this chapter, but that's just coming from the author. I hope you enjoyed it anyway :D And sorry for any grammatical mistakes!**_

 _ **Oh, and it was lolbit's idea with Raoul and Duchess alone in the room about to kiss, only to be interrupted by Mater XD. Thank you for that again, Bitty! And will Raoul and Duchess ever kiss for real? I don't know. Maybe hehehe.**_

 _ **I hope everyone who is reading this is having a wonderful day/night! See you all in the next chapter!**_


	12. Eleven

**_ATTENTION! I know I made it obvious in the previous chapter about where baby Cars come from, and I got to thinking that maybe some of you would like an explanation. In my bio, I have five reasons as to why I believe the vehicles are manufactured rather than born. Each reason has a paragraph further explaining it. Also, I gave Lady a bio, and below all the OC bios, I have put all my upcoming stories I plan to post to FFN! I made sure to put the summaries and ratings for them on there, too, and that includes TWTS's actual summary, so check it out!_**

 ** _Wow, this is a bit of a late update! Yeah, I apologize for that... This chapter possibly would have been up yesterday buuuuuuut...um... I had three tests over the course of three days this week at school and got all caught up on_** ** _my work, so I may or may not have procrastinated this chapter... Cars 2: The Videogame was calling my name, and I haven't played with Raoul_** ** _ÇaRoule_** ** _, Miguel Camino, or Maximama Schnell in so long! Heh heh, ignore Max's nickname... Unless you're Bitty and know the joke ;)_**

 ** _And speaking of Maximum, I don't know if any people got confused, or it was hard to read, but I know Max's speaking parts were a bit accent-heavy. Reading back over it, I just couldn't help but think it looked like too much. I do apologize if it was difficult or confusing at times. Plus some words were actual German. 'Und' means 'and', and is not a typo, hahaha. And every word that has a 'w' sound in it, I changed it to a 'v' since that's how a German's accent is. So yeah, just a little explaining and apology if anyone was confused or it was hard to read!_**

 ** _So chapter 11 is another filler except for the end (that part gets back to the plot)... But I like reading filler chapter since they visit in on the side-characters. If I hadn't done any filler chapters, we would probably already be in the present in my story, or close to it! My filler chapters are for when I don't know what to write, and for touching in on the lesser characters. I know everybody has their fave character, so I try to write about them for you all ;D. There are still more to come, of course, so just stay tuned 'cause you never know when I'll throw in your favorite Car!_**

 ** _TRikiD, Thank you for all your reviews! I can't wait to read your upcoming stories ;D_**

 ** _lolbit, CURSE THE NOTE FOR NOT SAYING ANYTHING! Hahaha you thought Holley was gonna find something and have a vision? Very interesting idea! And the thought of gallons of breakfast drinks interrupting the next would-be kiss...XD That's great! I'm excited for the next chapter in your story, so here's the next in mine :D_**

 ** _Britishlover123, Haha, yeah I wouldn't doubt that he was fiiiine looking' in his younger years! Nah, that didn't sound creepy at all. Well, that dark experience is gonna be told when we get to that point, so just gotta wait for now ;). Maybe Holley will save him, maybe she won't. We shall see..._**

 ** _PASTAAAAA, Oh no! I'm sorry for hurting you! Freakin' Mater ruining the moment ;-;... They most likely will kiss, but not anytime real soon, so thou shalt wait ;)_**

 ** _justuslogan225, Chapter 11 is now! :D_**

* * *

 _ **Eleven**_

"Ohhhh, my hood…"

"I don't feel right…"

"My wheels… I can't feel my wheels!"

These were a few things the doctors and nurses heard repeated all over the hospital. A few in particular seemed to complain a lot more than the others.

" _OW!_ Hey, watch it back there! Damage my awesome system any more than it already is, and you're payin' fo' it!" DJ griped. He'd already lost his spoiler, got his paint scratched up and chipped everywhere, and had one of his deep bass speakers blow out. Plus, he hated being poked and prodded at by a male doctor. DJ would have given anything to have the female one, but she was with Wingo.

"If I may ask, why did you go into battle with this sound system thing inside you anyway?" the doctor asked with a tight voice. He was pulling out broken pieces of thick glass from DJ's behind, since the panel that covered his CDs and speakers broke. "Besides, it's already damaged. What makes it different if I damage it more?"

"Cost." DJ dug his tires into the short table he was on as he felt another glass piece being yanked out. "YIE! It cost Wingo a fortune designing and installing it!" the Tuner hissed out in a fast sentence. "Man, can't ya do this in a more gentle way?!"

"Not really." The doctor tossed another large piece of glass into the metal bin, reuniting it with fellow bloodstained shards. "If you want these pieces out, stop complaining and be still." He inspected another piece, this one lodged deeper than the others. Carefully he tugged on it, but instead of it sliding out a tiny bit, it stayed and only made DJ bleed. "If I could go back in time and tell you to take this system out, I would slap you first…" the doctor muttered.

"How was I supposed ta know we were gonna be thrown into a surprise fight with those guys?"

"How were you supposed to know…" The doctor paused to sigh. "Oh my Chrysl… Why do you think you were here?" he blurted out. DJ didn't answer for a moment.

"Got me there. And well, I've never taken my system out anyway, so I don't know how." he finally admitted.

"So I see."

"Yea-YOW! What are ya doin' back there?!"

"No matter how hard I pull, this piece is refusing to slide out of you. I'll have to yank it out hard." the doctor stated.

If someone were to be standing in front of him, they would swear DJ's blue face paled slightly. "Y-yank it out?" he asked in slight fear. "Um, isn't there another way, doc? Could ya like, knock me out or numb me or somethin'?"

"Yes, no, no, and no." the doctor said casually. "Good news is this is the last piece." He wiped off the large bloody drop seeping out of the cut and running down DJ's backside. "Bad news is it's also the biggest. And deepest." He gripped it with his utility arm and gave a small yank. It hardly slid out and made DJ wince big-time. "Ready?"

"Do I have ta answer?"

That day, everyone at C.H.R.O.M.E. heard the agonizing scream of Devon Montgomery Johnston III.

 **...**

"The hel… What was that?" Wingo dropped the first part, not wanting to curse in front of a lady. And specifically, one he thought was sexy.

"Sounded like someone getting dismembered." the female doctor said in a small voice. "Or getting something yanked out."

"My bro DJ has a sound system that I installed in him, and there's a pane of glass covering the speakers on his backside. He got his glass panel broken and shoved inta his rear during the fight." Wingo snickered. "Musta been him getting the glass pulled out."

"Sounds really painful." The doctor, who was a young and beautiful fiery red 1998 McLaren F1 LM, removed Wingo's tire to get a better look at his wheel well. The Tuner was sitting on a short lift raised just enough for Dr. Rose to inspect things low to the ground. Wingo had been through surgery like everyone else, so she was just checking the minor things, such as his burned wheel well. "How do the doctors perform surgery on you for about an hour and miss this stuff?" She scraped off some burnt rubber to reveal a piece of Wingo's original tire rim lodged in his well. "Like, how did this happen?" she questioned as she yanked the piece out.

"Ouch! Careful there, babe." Wingo warned lightly, not wanting to come on strong. "And how did what happen?"

"This getting stuck in your wheel well." Rose held up the piece of a bloody and very expensive-looking rim.

"A Lemon threw an acid bomb at me and it exploded, but it didn't kill me. The explosion busted my tire and musta lodged my rim inta my well. Then acid splashed my tire and melted it and it got everywhere. Hurt like hel- heck too." The doctor started laughing, taking Wingo by surprise. "What's so funny?"

"Oh you," Rose paused to shake her hood. "cutting yourself off every time you go to say 'hell'. You know, that word is not considered vulgar over here in Britain, hon."

"What?" Wingo asked, surprised. The McLaren started laughing at him. "Hey, don't laugh at me, baby. I ain't from this country, ya know?"

"Oh trust me, I can tell." Rose turned to throw the piece of Wingo's rim away. "You're very…well, very much the image of the stereotypical punk American."

"And what's that supposed ta mean?" Wingo prodded. "Miss Dr. Rose?"

"Nothing bad, of course, Mr. Wingo." Rose giggled. "It just means that you're trying to smooth talk me, and I find it very amusing, sweetheart." A small line of red-tinged across Wingo's hood.

"I a-am not!" he sputtered.

"Oh _really_?" Rose pulled up to him, with her eyes looking flirtatiously at him. "Then what's that red line across your hood?~"

"What red line?" Wingo looked down at it, but immediately looked at Rose to see her much closer than before. "Oh, I see you're quite close ta me now, babe." he said lowly, turning slightly like he wanted to line their mouths up. "Any reason you are?"

Dr. Rose only smirked. "Maybe because I want to…"

She leaned closer to him.

"…inspect your…"

Even closer.

"Wheel well!"

"Huh?" Wingo was ripped from his clouded thoughts as Rose disappeared from his sight and pressed something to the bleeding opening in his well.

"It seems that your oil pressure has gone up some since this is leaking a major amount of oil for an opening of this size. Is everything alright, Mr. Wingo?" Rose asked casually.

"Um…yeah, everythi-"

"Okay, that's good to hear, hon!" The doctor cut him off with a cheery, childlike voice. Wingo only bit his lip awkwardly and sighed inaudibly. "I'm just going to patch this up so it will heal, then you can get it fixed all the way after then." Rose told him.

"Uh, sure. Okay." Wingo felt something wet against his gash, which stung a bit, then he felt something cover it. His replacement tire was put back on, and the doctor lowered the lift to the ground, letting the Tuner roll off and towards the door.

"You're free to go now, but remember, no driving over thirty-seven miles an hour and no rigorous movement that would hurt anything or knock that bandage off your wheel well." Rose picked up her clipboard and turned to Wingo.

"Thanks, Dr. Rose." he said.

"You have a good day, Mr. Wingo." She paused, letting him turn around all the way and get his front out the door. "Oh, and Wingo?" The Tuner halted.

"Hm?"

Rose pulled up next to him slowly, leaning on him ever so slightly. Her voice was low and flirty. "Nobody knows exactly who I am, but I will tell you this: I'm not the easiest girl to attract as guys always try too hard, but…" She trailed off, catching Wingo's gaze in his own mirror, and winked at him. "You're quite the attention getter. And kinda charming in your own way. I'll give you that." Dr. Rose drove forward and out the door, brushing her body gently against Wingo's.

Wingo watched her go with a look on his face that said 'what just happened?'. But he gave her a sexy smirk when she stole one last glance at him before disappearing down the hall. "Just like that." Wingo chuckled to himself. "No matter what, no lady can resist The Wing!"

 **...**

" _ATCHOO! OW!_ "

"That is the _third_ time you've sneezed on me within the last two minutes, and nineteenth within the last five! Are you _sure_ you are not allergic to me, mate?!" the doctor asked in a huff, wiping his windshield with his wipers.

"Oh man… I am sow sowwy, docterrr…" Snot Rod stifled another sneeze, instead clearing his throat. "I seriously don't mean ta sneeze on ya!"

"Yeah, well, at least it was just your spit that time…" The doctor opened his eyelids all the way and sprayed washer fluid on his windshield. He wiped it off, making his windscreen shine.

"What's that smell?" Snot Rod pondered, taking a big sniff of the air.

"My washer fluid." the doctor, who was a light blue truck, explained. "It's not your typical washer fluid. It's a disinfecting one that kills unwanted bacteria and germs." He blinked his eyes and looked at the muscle car. "It is also perfectly formulated to not leave behind streaks, so you can see crystal-clear through the pane of glass over your eyes." He seemed to be suddenly proud of his specialty washer fluid, saying all that with a smile.

"I've neva heard of it before. And you seem pretty happy about it." Snot Rod noticed. The doctor practically beamed.

"Of course, you wouldn't know about it, mate. I would not have expected you to, anyway. It's something I created." he said proudly. "I know it will be a big help for a lot of vehicles when I get it approved and on shelves everywhere."

"So only you have it?"

"Some other doctors here are also using it. I created it pretty recently, so word hasn't gotten out to everybody just yet. I guess you could say everyone who is using it is pretty much a guinea pig to see how well it works."

"How well does it work?"

"So far, excellently."

Snot Rod thought for a moment. "Is it possible I could use some? I'm always sneezin', and sometimes I can't tell if it's my allergies or somethin' else!"

"Hm, with your total consent I don't see why not. But it's still in its testing stage, so are you completely sure, mate?"

"I am totally sure! You don't know how hard it is ta live with these allergies and how nasty it can get sometimes!" Snot Rod pleaded. He sniffed, then breathed out, then sniffed in again. "Oh, oh-oh crap… Not again…"

"Oh no, don't you sneeze on me again!" the doctor said frantically, reversing and taking cover in a corner. He watched, impressed by the power of Snot Rod's sneeze and how high the flames shot out of his exhausts.

"UGH, THAT _HURT_!" the orange car nearly screamed, making the doctor shrink back.

"I'll say that probably hurt, mate…" He was staring at some red droplets that had shot out of Snot Rod's side exhausts. "Do you always sneeze like that?"

"Pretty much." Snotty strained out, tensed up. "I'm used ta it, though."

"Used to sneezing blood out your exhausts?"

"What?" Not having mirrors prevented him from actually seeing, but that didn't stop the muscle car from looking towards his sides and the floor by them. "What do ya mean blood? That's neva happened ta me before!" Snot Rod tried to turn his body as best he could, but nearly fell off the lift.

"Now hold on, be still! The last thing you want is to raise your oil pressure!" The doctor was quickly wiping up the droplets on the floor and watching Snot Rod's third exhaust pipe on his left side leak out some more.

"Can't ya do somethin', doc?" Snot Rod was a bit frantic. This had never happened to him before, and he was alarmed.

"I can if you'd calm down and be still, mate." the doctor ordered calmly. "Now, this is unusual, but it's not completely uncommon. It seems to me you have cracked something and oil is leaking into your exhaust system."

"Is that why it hurts so bad when I sneeze now?" Snot Rod asked.

"Precisely." Then the doctor paused. "Okay, this might be hard, but you need to stop your sneezing at the moment so you don't shoot out more oil. Do you think you can do that?" Snotty's eyes went wide.

"Um, I really don't think so…"

"If you keep doing it, whatever is cracked and leaking the oil will just crack more, releasing most, if not all, the blood in your body. I don't think you want to risk that before we can get in there and see what's wrong." the doctor explained. Snot Rod lowered himself on his axles without a wince, the pain under his hood being greater than the pain in his axles.

"I'll try not to, but I'm telling ya, it's hard." he sighed. "Is this life-threatening?"

"It can be if not taken care of properly." The doctor lowered the lift, letting Snot Rod get off. "Which is why we need to get you fixed, mate."

"Well, when ya say it like that, it don't sound too pleasant." Snot Rod joked. "But I know whatcha mean." The doctor chuckled when he realized his choice of words.

"We could do that too. But we won't." He brought out a large, wheeled platform, made Snot Rod get on it, and wheeled him out the door. "This shouldn't take very long once we find the problem." he assured.

"I think the problem is my sneezin'." Snot Rod breathed in sharply, holding in another sneeze successfully. "But I can't do anything about it, though!"

"You know, I could probably do something about it for you if you'd like."

"Really?"

"Maybe. Can't say for sure."

"Well that's reassur-reee, eee, _EEE_ -!"

"DON'T SNEEZE!"

Snot Rod nearly jumped out of his frame at the sudden voice he instantly recognized.

 **...**

Boost was making his way down the hall after being released from the doctor. All around him were rooms that were either silent as could be or full of painful yells and crying. There were even rooms far away from where he was that contained cars in so much pain or worse, that their cries were heard as soft, creepy screams. The one thing that freaked Boost out the most was that in the same building he was in, cars were dying from their injuries sustained in the attack. It was something horrible, but the Tuner couldn't help but feel grateful he survived it all. He actually began to wonder why he was so lucky to live; having three cans of nitrous oxide on his back and surviving the ordeal made him feel like he should have been added to the death list. Since the doctor had removed the cans, Boost made a mental note to leave his N2O off until this whole mess was over.

He was driving alone very slowly, passing each room carefully and keeping himself tense. He felt as if even brushing against a door could open it and reveal a world of pain on the other side. Boost was very deep in his haunting thoughts when he heard a familiar voice from a room with an open door.

"I think the problem is my sneezin'. But I can't do anything about it though!"

 _"That sounds like Snot Rod…"_ Boost thought, then silently snorted at himself. _"Wait, 'sounds'? What am I thinking? I KNOW that's him… Nobody else complains about their sneezing like that… Hm, I bet I could give him a scare…"_ Smirking mischievously and pulling up to the door, he waited for the right moment…

"Maybe. Can't say for sure."

"Well that's reassur-reee, eee, _EEE_ -!"

"DON'T SNEEZE!"

"YAAAAH!" Snot Rod screamed, instantly losing the urge to sneeze. If he wasn't in so much pain, the muscle car would have jumped right off the wheeled platform he was on. "What in the…? BOOST WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" he yelled when he saw his friend laughing.

"Well, ya d-didn't sneeze!" the purple-grey spectraflair Tuner laughed, softly hitting the floor with his tire. "Man, I don't think I've, heh, I've evah seen ya jump that big, S-Rod!" Boost caught his breath and gazed at Snot Rod, the image of the muscle car nearly jumping through the roof still playing in his mind.

"Oh, if I wasn't up here and in so much pain, right now I'd be killin' ya!" Snotty took a second to breathe in, keeping another potential sneeze at bay. "But ya did stop me from almost killing myself - by givin' me an engine attack!" That caught Boost's attention.

"Killing yourself? Wait, what's wrong? Your sneezing can kill you now?" he asked with hints of worry in his tone. The doctor behind Snot Rod pushed him out into the hall and turned to Boost.

"Sort of. Your mate here has cracked something inside him that is leaking oil into his exhaust system. If not taken care of immediately, he could die." he said calmly, yet his face looked urgent.

"What does his sneezin' have ta do with it?"

"Every sneeze opens the crack and pushes more oil into his exhausts, which in turn gets sprayed out. So if he doesn't pass out first, he is liable to sneeze out all his blood and die thanks to his allergies." Boost looked shocked that something like that could happen.

"Well, you're welcome for stoppin' your sneeze and don't let me stand in your way, doc." Boost addressed first Snotty, then the doctor.

"And if I don't come back, you'll have ta find a different head of security, Boost." Snot Rod couldn't help but say as he was pushed down the hall.

"Oh, you'll be fine, Snot Rod." Boost assured. "As in ya better come back ta me, bro!"

"I might. If I don't sneeze." the muscle car snickered just as he disappeared with the doctor through a set of doors. Boost tried to smile like he wasn't worried, but instantly lost the feeble attempt when he heard the monstrous sneeze. The orange glow of Snot Rod's flames made their presence known through the window, and a spray of red oil suddenly appeared on the cloudy glass. Boost shrank back from the sight with wide, concerned eyes.

 _"Please come outta this place alive and okay, Snot…"_ he thought. It was one of his weaknesses, though Boost never liked to admit it. He was always overly concerned for the well-being of everyone, be it a friend or a stranger. Quietly and as quickly as he could, the leader of the Tuners went all the way down the hall and into the waiting area. But before he got there, he ran into DJ - though not literally.

"I'm not sure if I like this new feelin' or not…"

"Something wrong, DJ?"

The musical Tuner jumped a little, then turned his attention to Boost. "Oh, hey Boost. Ya kinda scared me there."

"Am I just scary today or somethin'?" Boost smirked. "Scared the crap outta Snot back there."

DJ couldn't help it. "Heh heh, or did ya scare the _snot_ outta him?" Of course, they laughed.

"No, but if I did I would have probably killed him." Boost then explained what was wrong with their friend. DJ was quite shocked.

"That's… Man, I hope he's gonna be alright." he said, extremely worried. "This is somethin' that's uncommon?"

"I don't know. The doctor didn't tell me, but I'm sure Snot Rod'll tell us when he gets out of surgery." Boost replied.

"If he comes back."

"Don't say that!" Boost suddenly blurted out, taking DJ by surprise. His face softened when he saw DJ studying it. "I just…" he sighed. "I just don't like thinking like that, okay? And I don't like the thought of losin' my friends or anything like that." DJ nodded.

"Yeah, that's understandable." He gazed down the hall. "I hate thinking like that too." DJ looked back to Boost. "Hey, didn't ya say Snot didn't look too bad? So that means he'll be fine, okay Boost?"

"That's what I like ta think." The duo started down the hall again in silence before one of them spoke up again. "So, I heard ya say ya weren't sure if 'I like this new feeling or not'. What did the docs do to ya?" Boost asked. DJ's face went through a mix of emotions.

"Well, I can assure ya I don't like this feelin' of emptiness." he sighed. "They took my sound system out and I miss my beats, man! I just feel so lonely without 'em! However, the feelin' of bein' lighter is real sweet, bro. I feel like I could go about sixty miles over my top speed!"

"Wouldn't surprise me if your top speed was actually sixty over what ya can do now." Boost snickered. "That equipment had to have been, what? A thousand pounds?"

"You sayin' I'm slow?"

"I ain't sayin' you're fast!"

The two continued to poke fun at each other all the way to the waiting area.

 **...**

Just waking up from surgery was Flo, and she forgot everything and where she was for a moment. At first, she thought she was dead. After that pipe bomb had gone off right next to her, the show car lost her hearing until she passed out a couple minutes later. When she had come to, her vision was all blurry, her hearing was muffled, and she was like that for about a minute before the doctors knocked her out for surgery. Now that she was awake again, Flo felt like she was going to turn into mush. Her vision and hearing had come back, but being knocked out twice in a row made all the oil in her body feel like thick pudding and her frame stiff. She didn't dare turn on her engine; it was throbbing beyond throbbing, plus she didn't know what it was that required surgery. So she just sat there on the bed and sighed audibly, thinking about all the madness that happened in the blink of an eye.

"Oh, you're awake!" came a happy voice next to her. Flo couldn't move, but her eyes looked to the left, where she saw her husband, Ramone, all bandaged up.

"How long was I being operated on? And how long have I been out?" Since not using her voice since screaming from the pipe bomb, Flo thought she sounded raspy and distorted now.

"I think I heard the doctor say it was over an hour, and you've been out for almost two days. I'm relieved to see you awake now." Ramone told her. He pulled up to Flo and kissed her gently. "How are you feeling, baby? Out of all of us, your injuries are among the worst."

"Almost two days? Oh goodness… And I feel…I don't know." Flo sighed heavily. "I don't feel right, hon. I just feel…dead. Everything hurts, I haven't been awake long enough to process everything, and from what I do know, I can't even fathom what's gonna happen next. Nothing feels real to me." She leaned towards Ramone as if to touch him and make sure he was real. He was, and the Impala rubbed his front right tire against his wife's left one.

"None of this feels real to me, either." During pressing or serious times, Ramone stopped talking in third-person. "I mean, the attack on this place, the lives that were lost, and the fact that Finn McMissile has gone with those Lemons all seem like something from a made-up story." he concluded.

"Yeah, it does." Flo agreed, but looked at Ramone with disbelieving eyes. "Wait, what? What did you say?"

"About this sounding like a made-up tale?"

"No, before that."

"That Finn McMissile is gone?"

"WHAT?" Flo gasped, taking her husband by surprise.

"Wait, you didn't know? Everybody saw him leave with our new enemy." Ramone told her.

"No, I didn't. I guess it was when I passed out." Flo paused. "A new enemy? I think I missed out on a lot…"

"You did but didn't at the same time. The fight was most of it, but the biggest plot twist was Finn is apparently evil and no one knew." Ramone sighed. "Now no one knows what to do, and everyone is hurt."

Flo was still trying to take everything in. "Finn, our friend, evil. I would never have imagined!" Her body shook with disbelief as she exclaimed her statement. She began coughing, a trait almost everyone shares now that they're all hurt.

"Take it easy, baby. You don't need to get all excited in your condition." Ramone pressed his tire against hers.

"It's hard not to when you're-" Flo paused for a cough. "-when you're being told this stuff for the first time. And you said we have a new enemy? Who is it?" she asked timidly, like she didn't want to know.

"We don't know that either. He's a mysterious guy, all black, can't see what he looks like except his eyes and teeth." Ramone recalled what Mystery looked like.

"Oh, that's really specific." Flo joked. "Great. If we can't see what he looks like, then we don't know who he is." She gasped. "What if he's one of us?"

Ramone pondered on that. "I don't think so. This guy didn't sound like anyone we know, plus he took Finn with him. I'm pretty sure whoever this guy is, came here to get Finn."

"Then who could it be?"

"I don't know. You're asking the wrong car for that answer, baby."

 **...**

"What's the death total?"

"It's been totaled to at least forty-five, but there's still some dying from their injuries, sir…" the agent's voice shook with nervous fear.

"Okay." Sarge nodded at this. He was seriously considering contacting the British military but was certain they knew of this already. It was them who locked up the Lemons in the first place, so they knew the pieces of junk had escaped. Still, if more vehicles were dying, then C.H.R.O.M.E. could use some extra medical help. As of right now, all Sarge could do was help as best he could with the agency, giving them military advice and just staying calm. The worst thing to do was get all worried in a situation like this, and the newbies at C.H.R.O.M.E. clearly did not know that. This one he was talking to was no different. "Why are you shaking all over, soldier?"

"I-I'm just, nervous I guess, s-sir." he replied, knowing good and well he was not supposed to show out with fear.

"You're going to have to pull yourself together, man up, and don't let the enemy know you're afraid." Sarge instructed. "Aren't you spies taught that?"

"Yes, sir, we are." The car, a black coupe with a white hood and doors, straightened up. "It's just that this is my first time to experience something like this. I'm honestly brand new at this, sir."

"I understand, but just remember to stay calm or else everything that needs to be done, will not get done. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Carry on, soldier." Sarge watched the coupe drive away, seeming to have a different demeanor than before. Reversing to turn around, the Jeep decided to go ahead and contact the military in America to warn them of any potential attacks. These Lemons weren't like every other bad guy out there; it was like they were terroristic and the technology they have was far more superior than first thought. As Sarge was headed in the direction of the control center, it was almost expected that he'd meet Fillmore on his way.

"Hey, Sarge." Fillmore greeted lazily.

"Fillmore." Sarge nodded to him. "What brings you this way, hippie?" Fillmore didn't say anything at first.

"Nothing in particular. Just roaming and thinking, man." he sighed out.

"So I see. You seem very depressed." Sarge observed. Fillmore looked at him with tired brown eyes that Sarge noticed had lost their sheen.

"I guess I am. I just don't feel like myself, ya know? All this fighting, hate, and death is really bumming me out beyond bumming me out, man. It's ruining my peaceful self and positive vibes. I swear I'm a lover, not a fighter, but all this is making me question that, dude." Fillmore confessed. "Like, I know that desperate times call for desperate measures, and I have no problem with us killing those bad guys to defend ourselves. Karma won't do us harm for defense, man. But it's just the fact that all this is happening that is really…making me question how I feel."

Sarge didn't know what to say for a moment. Usually, the microbus was always trying to stay positive about things or using his hippie-like ways of talking to get others to be all for peace and love. But now that Fillmore was questioning how even he felt made Sarge wonder what it did to him. "Well, I'm no hippie, but I understand what you're trying to say." The Jeep continued on his way, and Fillmore followed him. "I get how you're only for peace and getting thrown into a situation like this must be, well, difficult."

"You have no idea, man."

"I would guess not and I will not argue with that statement. But what I can say is that sometimes things like this happen. Once the enemy has it in their mind that they want to attack, there is no stopping it." Sarge began to explain.

"Yeah, I get that, but why do it? Why come here and attack us like they did, and take some of our good guys, man? That's what I don't get, and having to fight them off just makes me not feel right." Fillmore sighed, his voice nearly monotone.

"I don't have the slightest idea, either. Why that 'Mystery' or whatever he called himself came and attacked us."

"And carnapped Finn."

"That too." Sarge glanced over at Fillmore. "But whatever the reason is for all of this, we have an enemy and all we can do is fight, which includes killing, until we figure out what all this is about."

"But that's the thing. I don't want to fight, man! And at the same time, it's like that's the right thing to do!" Fillmore burst out, then closed his eyes and sighed shakily. "It's all confusing to me and I have no idea how to feel. My peaceful vibes tell me 'No, killing is wrong. Peace is all that matters.' but my common sense is telling me 'Don't be a target for the Lemons. All they want to do is wrong, so they must be stopped no matter what it takes.'. Like dude, I'm so conflicted right now." Fillmore was almost begging for Sarge's advice.

Sarge thought, then sighed. "Fillmore, sometimes peace cannot be used to persuade the enemy into surrendering. Some vehicles are just built bad, and there's nothing that can be done about it. And when the enemy is surprise-attacking you and trying to kill you, fight back. When things like that happen, it's okay to do what you are against."

Fillmore nodded as he took this in. "So what you're saying is, fighting and war can't be prevented sometimes, and it's okay to throw peace out the window during those instances?"

"If that's how you perceived it, then yes. I don't want to do this as much as you don't and I wish this could be prevented, but that is not the case. Things can't always be the way we want them to be, and this is a prime example of that." Sarge told Fillmore.

"Okay, I guess I can accept that." the microbus said after a pause. "When we were fighting out there, it felt right to defend myself and my friends, but after it all, my hippie-ness came out and reminded me what I'm for. I was so conflicted, man. But now I can be sure how to feel." Fillmore smiled, the first time he had since the attack three days prior. "Thanks, Sarge, for the advice. Even though we bicker sometimes, I don't know what I'd do without you, man."

Now it was Sarge's turn to crack a small smile. "As much as I hate waking up to your Hendrix CD, or listening to you go on about that freak juice you call 'organic fuel', I would be lying if I said I didn't feel the same way." he admitted to his polar opposite.

"I thought as much, my friend." Fillmore said with a smile, stopping to turn down a hall and find his way to his other friends. "See you around, sir."

Sarge smirked, having never heard the hippie say that. "At ease, man."

 **...**

"Why did I let myself get into this?" Todd asked himself.

"Get into what, mate?" Nigel turned to the Piston Cup racer.

"Everything! What else would I be complaining about?" Todd looked very worried. "I told my family that I was away on vacation, but since it's been three months, they keep asking where I'm at. After the first week even, they were asking where I am!"

"Well first off, calm down, mate! Second off, just tell them you're in London practicing your racing skills with Lightning McQueen." Nigel advised. Todd Marcus, Nigel Gearsley, and Lewis Hamilton were three of the last four to get released from the hospital, with Flo going to be the last. Nigel and Lewis weren't as worried about what their families were thinking of their absences, but Todd was slightly freaked out. And 'slightly' may be an understatement.

"Tell them that I'm in London, England with Lightning?" Todd repeated. "But what if they decide to surprise me by coming here?"

"Let them. It's not like they're going to find you here, anyway, man." Lewis reminded of where they were. "Unless you tell them, of course."

"Yeah, but they'll look for me, and when they can't find me, won't they start to worry or get suspicious?" Todd asked, knowing the answer.

"You don't have to hide out here. Just give them a specific location in London, then hang around there until you meet them. Besides, who said they were coming here in the first place?" Lewis questioned.

"Uh, no one. But still, what if they do?" Todd worried again.

"Then do what Lewis told you to do." Nigel suggested. "Wait until they call again, then tell them you're in London, England and give them a specific place. You could ask if they're going to surprise-visit you in a joking manner, to be sure they'll do it."

"But what if they don't call and come anyway? What if they're on their way now?"

"Man, you are the hardest vehicle to convince, aren't you?" Lewis looked accusingly at Todd. "It's going to be okay if they show up. It's going to be okay if they don't. Just don't worry about that, and worry about what's going on right now, man."

"Yeah. If I were you, I'd worry about the possibility of my family getting attacked, more than the possibility of them finding out I'm becoming a spy, mate." Nigel nudged the Piston Cup racer to make him think about that.

Todd thought about that. "Yeah, I guess that makes more sense." he sighed, then stiffened up again. "Wait, the possibility of them being attacked?! You're telling me there is a possibility they will?!"

The two WGP Racers looked across Todd's hood at each other and sighed, thinking the same thing.

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say…" Nigel mumbled.

"But I'm glad you warned me! Now I really do have to worry about them!" Todd nearly exclaimed, wincing at pain in his undercarriage from jumping.

"The chances of them getting attacked are very low." Lewis assured. "We have no idea where the next attack is going to be, or when it's going to happen. Just please, for the love of Chrysler, calm down for a moment, man! The doctors all told us to keep our oil pressures down and getting excited is not helping you." he warned.

"I know, I know, but it's just that… Ugh, I had no idea that all this was gonna happen when I let my bumper get dragged here by Lightning!" Todd complained. "How are you two not freaking out?" The two Brits gave the American between them the same look.

"You just have to think about the severity of the situation, then decide how you're not going to get scared about it." Nigel explained. "It's hard, I will admit."

"Man, it's very hard." Lewis agreed. "But it's the best thing to do during something like this. You don't want your judgment altered by fear, do you?"

"Um, I guess not. That wouldn't be good." Todd answered.

"Then there you go. Just keep that thought in mind, and you'll have a constant reminder to not show out with being scared, man."

Todd remained calm after that, feeling more confident about the situation now.

 **...**

"Miles Axlerod. What would he know?" Holley silently asked herself. Speeding down the sidewalk, she made her way to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s hospital building, gripping Finn's journal with her utility arm tightly. "He couldn't be behind all this, could he? No, he's still locked up. I think. Maybe he escaped?" The purple spy paused in her talking to herself to open the hospital door and get in. Healing faster than anyone had ever seen allowed her to speed all she wanted, so she got there rather fast. The door opened and she sped in. "No no, if he got out, we would probably hear about that. But that doesn't stop the fact he might know something." Holley kept speeding through the hospital and talking to herself, trying to find her way to where her friends were.

"Whoa, Shiftwell!"

"Hey, slow down, miss!"

"My papers!"

"I'm terribly sorry about that!" Holley apologized to that last car when his stack of papers he was carrying went everywhere. She was going so fast, that some agents called out to her to slow down or watch where she was going. Holley wasn't trying to be rude, but her determination to show what she had found and to unveil the truth were propelling her forward. Eventually, after surprising a few more vehicles and almost running over a certain forklift, Holley found a couple of her friends.

"Whoa, Holley! What's the rush?" Luigi questioned the panting spy.

"Ehi! Che cosa era che per?!" Guido asked in a huff after Holley almost ran over him.

"My apologies for almost running you over, Guido, and Luigi, I may have found something to help us figure out this whole mess!" Holley announced. Instead of feeling confused and almost angry like she had when she first read Finn's journal, the spy now felt a spark of hope that lifted her spirits a little. She was still far from happy, but hope was something different.

"You found something?" Luigi asked, surprised. "What-a was it? Where is it?"

"It's this." Holley held out the old journal and dropped it on the ground in front of her. Luigi and Guido both went on either side of her to look at it.

"Sembra un diario." Guido observed.

"It does, but that's a very feminine term for it." Having taken the C.H.R.O.M.E. language course allowed Holley to understand the forklift. "But I would call it a journal."

"A journal? Whose?" asked Luigi, very curious.

"Finn's." Holley opened the cover and flipped through the first few pages with nothing interesting on them. "He wrote these when he first got this thing, so they're uninteresting."

"I see. Is-a there anything specific you wanted to show us?"

"Yes, actually. You see, I went to Finn's house and found this under his bed in a locked box. When I went through it, I found this." Opening the old book all the way to the last few pages, Holley showed what she had found.

"Whoa! What-a happened to these pages?!" Luigi exclaimed, reading over some of the crazy words slashed across the page. Guido picked up the journal with his fork and flipped to the next page, finding more of Finn's anger in the form of angry penmanship.

"Ha perso la sua mente!" he gasped. "Cosa gli è successo?"

"That's the thing! I don't know! No one does." Holley pointed at the journal. "But flip the page until you get to normal writing." Guido did just that and set the book down. "Look, this part is about the World Grand Prix and everything that happened with us spies."

Luigi skimmed over the words. "So, that's-a what Mater was doing the whole time we thought he was in Radiator Springs." he discovered. "So, what is so important about this part?"

"Go back one page and look at the only sentence on both. Tell me that isn't weird in the slightest." Holley instructed.

Luigi flipped one page back and stared at the sentence, slightly bewildered. "What does he mean by not believing you are his partner? Could this mean anything as to why he's acting the way he is?"

"Possibly." Holley nodded. "Though it does scare me to find out what the answer is, maybe it will tell us what's wrong." she supposed. "I am not at all sure it will, but it's worth a try to use this for help."

Guido was flipping back to the pages with the insane writings on them. "Quindi cosa è successo a Finn quella cambiato lui?" he asked.

"Those crazy writings do not tell us, but they could give clues. Whatever happened to him really must have been-a terrible." Luigi brushed his tire over some of the words, turning two pages over. "Hmm, 'Sylavere'? I do not know who that is, but I'll bet my white wall tires he has something to do with Finn's behavior."

"I don't doubt that one bit." Holley agreed. "But because we don't know who that is, or if he's even alive since Finn wrote that he'd pay for what he did, we can't find him and ask. Yet, there may be one car who knows what this is all about."

"Who would that be?"

"I know he's probably locked up, but that doesn't mean he would not be able to know about this mess."

"You're talking about Miles Axlerod." Luigi knew without Holley telling.

"Yes."

"But what would he know?"

"Who knows? That's why I want to question him." the spy stated firmly.

The Fiat nodded. "That is not a bad idea. Then again, anything is a good idea when you have-a no clue what to do."

"Exactly." Holley motioned for Guido to pick up the journal, then started off in the direction of the waiting area. "Now let's go show the others and see what they think."

"I am-a right behind you."

* * *

 ** _Kinda rushed a couple parts, but there you have it! I promise on my life the next two chapter will not be fillers. They will get back to the actual plot :). I am not sure about chapter 14, but we'll see, I guess._**

 ** _I don't know how Pixar Cars anatomy works, so that part with Snot Rod I don't have any idea if it's possible._**

 ** _This is kinda off-topic, but has anyone else had an attachment to an old vehicle? Because I did, and I've been thinking about Vani for some time, now... He was this Dodge Grand Caravan we used to have, and had to get rid of in 2011 to get a bigger vehicle. He's 17 years old, and I miss the heck outta him... I know Vani is still out there, but I have no idea where or if he's for sale. I kinda feel like Holley; just like she has determination to find Finn and get him back, I have determination to find my old vehicular best friend and get him back. I know it's silly, but if anyone else has ever been attached to a vehicle, they know what it's like. I just felt like saying this because I feel like Holley in my story hahaha._**

 ** _Don't forget to check out my bio for the explanations and to see my upcoming stories if you haven't already, and until chapter 12 arrives, goodbye for now and love Cars forever, my readers!_**


	13. Twelve

**_Honestly, I wasn't planning on this being a long chapter since I had a hard time finding good ideas, but I found inspiration and now I give you a 10,609-words-long chapter! It does get back to the plot, but it has a few short fillers here and there. But it's mostly plot. Anyway, welcome back, everybody!_**

 ** _CarsGeek24, Dang... I honestly felt sad reading that your parents were selling Silver Bell. That attachment to vehicles happens to a lot of people, and it's just so hard to let go. The only thing you can do is hope she went to good owners. Sadly, the good things in life never seem to last forever, but at least memories will :). And thanks for the review; it's nice to know other people feel the same way about vehicles. Also, Silver Bell is a really pretty name for a vehicle :D. (Are you going to give a name to the new Yukon?)_**

 ** _agent fruity pebble, I could NEVER abandon this story! Don't get scared! No matter how busy I get, this story is a main priority in my life! Does it sound like I'm shipping Finn/Holley? Because sometimes I think it does haha XD. Thank you for the review!_**

 ** _lolbit, Hehehe it has been 6 centuries, hasn't it? Well, 6 more centuries later and here's the next one! :D You shall find out what happens next, my BIF, even though cliffhangers may be a thing sometimes... Hahaha Wingo, you tryhard! XD Lewis was concerned about Jeff, though I didn't write that part out. It was like a behind the scenes thing hahaha. Yes, Jeff is still alive, and now you know :D_**

 ** _I.M. Rally, I'm glad you liked Chapter Two :). And that's awesome :D_**

 ** _Britishlover123, Hahaha here's a table *hands you a table* Aww, seeing how much you enjoy my updates makes me happy and makes my day too ^-^. Hehe the Tuners were perfect to put in, weren't they?_**

 ** _PASTAAAAA, Don't have a hear attack on me! Wait, I hope you didn't have a hear attack before this chapter because it's here now! Hahaha I made Wingo a bit of a tryrhard, I guess XD. And trust me, I haven't forgotten about those two ;). My cousin won't let me..._**

 ** _KittytheCarDragon, Thank you! The crew chiefs will find out, and Raoul and Duchess will have their moments throughout the story ;)._**

 ** _justuslogan225, Now is Chapter 12 :). Yes, school does keep me busy, but I always find time to add at least a few things to TWTS. Especially since I finished this chapter on Thanksgiving break :D_**

 ** _Thank you all for the reviews and for all my readers!_**

 ** _*SLIGHT WARNING FOR BITTY* (slight because it's not that bad)_**

* * *

 ** _Twelve_**

The waiting area had just about everybody in it and Holley, Luigi, and Guido were happy to see that. The only vehicles missing were Snot Rod, Sarge, Ramone, and Flo, but Holley sent someone to fetch Sarge and asked someone else to tell the other three of the news.

"Guys! Everyone! May I have everyone's attention?" Holley came speeding into the waiting area, much to the shock of everyone else.

"Holley! There ya are!" Mater exclaimed happily when he saw his girlfriend coming towards them. "Where ya been?"

"And how are you so chipper?" asked Lightning.

"For some reason I…heal faster than everyone else." The spy quieted herself and looked down questioningly, having a quick moment where she still couldn't believe it herself. "I have been poking around places, and now I've found something that might be a step in helping us solve this mystery." she announced, snapping her attention back to everyone.

"Really? What is it?" pondered Sally.

Holley watched as everyone started gathering around her, leaning in to listen as if it were a ghost story to be told around a fire. "I found a personal item of Finn's." She gestured to Guido, who held up the item high in his forks. "It's his old journal, but there's not much in it to be of big help." Everyone's eyes widened at the sight.

"What? You found his journal?!" Duchess, who was next to Raoul, asked. She excitedly made her way to Guido. "Are there any deep secrets in there? Any embarrassing moments? Funny stories?"

"Not quite 'deep secrets' or anything embarrassing. There are a few accounts written about a few of his missions after he got this journal. But the ending is what caught my attention. Guido, show everyone." Holley instructed. The forklift opened the beginning to show everyone how normal it looked, then flipped to the end where the madhouse of words was embedded. All eyes looked at it curiously.

"What in zee world is all zat?" Raoul pondered, pulling up next to Duchess. "It is like he is possessed!"

"I'll say he was." Jeff piped up. "It almost looks like he was schizophrenic."

All the vehicles had something to say about Finn's written insanity. Some thought what Jeff said, saying Finn might have a mental illness. Others thought he was always evil or screwed up. The rest didn't know what to think. Unfortunately, the book really didn't give much insight into anything, but most of the interest lay with why it was unbelievable to Finn that Holley was his partner.

Over time, the waiting area became more of a meeting area as the cars always met up there and pondered possibilities and discussed what should be done next. That went on for a couple of weeks, and during that time the others had all healed completely, with dents removed and paint jobs fixed. The director of C.H.R.O.M.E. allowed them to stay in the vacant houses in the vicinity when they were well enough. It was a nice change from camping out in the headquarters like they've been doing for over three months now. They were all true spies of C.H.R.O.M.E. finally and had access to the whole place, including the housing units. Rules were two to three to a house, with the guys being separated from the girls (except for Ramone and Flo, who were married). Nothing much happened as far as anything goes. No attacks from anybody, there was nothing on the news that seemed 'Lemony', no missions from C.H.R.O.M.E., just nothing for two weeks, plus one more. So of course that was about to change soon.

Silver was bored one day; staying with her father proved to be uninteresting when she was a field agent with no assignments, and he a desk agent with every desk responsibility imaginable. She had gone with Blaze to his station a couple times, just to see what exactly he does, and it was like looking at a whole 'nother world - and Silver had seen a lot of the world already. It wasn't in her greatest interest to follow her dad back to his station early one morning, so she stayed behind.

"So, what are you going to do today to escape boredom?" Blaze questioned his daughter after having their first cans of oil of the day.

"I might go invade on someone." Silver answered absentmindedly. "There's something I want to talk to Holley about, but I need to see that journal again."

"Mmm, okay." Blaze absentmindedly responded back, gathering his things he needed for work. He had a slight British accent at times from living in London for so long, and Silver found that funny. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Silver shut up her giggling. "It's just that you aren't British at all, yet you have the accent sometimes."

"Well, it would happen to you too if you lived here as long as I have and need a visa for your own home country. Britain has rubbed off on me… Don't judge me, poppet!" Blaze said dramatically with the thickest accent he could do, prompting Silver to laugh again.

"You're so weird sometimes, Dad." she giggled.

"That must be a good thing. Your mother married me, after all, so maybe weird is good."

"Wow, Dad."

"Wow, Silver." Blaze mimicked with a smile, kissing his daughter's fender. "I guess I'll see you later, sweetheart." he added with a wave of his tire.

"Byeee." Silver waved back. She waited a couple minutes before going to visit Holley.

 **...**

Just like everyone else, Holley was bored and doing nothing. And little did she know, things were getting ready to change.

"Knock knock, I'm invading!" Silver's voice announced her presence.

"In the kitchen!" Holley called out, putting away cans. She was so bored waiting for permission to go visit Miles Axlerod, that she had been organizing her cans of oil, antifreeze, and coolant.

"Nothing better to do with your time, I see." the American spy commented as she rolled into the kitchen.

"I don't suppose you have any other suggestions on what to do." Holley responded with sass. The two had become very good friends since meeting.

"And I don't."

"So don't judge me for organizing cans."

"You're the second car I've talked to today to be all dramatic and accuse me of judging!" Silver said with a laugh.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't judge others, then." Holley snickered.

"Oh, shut up." Silver glanced around the room. "So then… I know you asked a couple weeks ago if you and some others could go pay Axlerod a visit. Heard anything yet? Are y'all clear to go?"

Holley turned to her. "No, not yet." she sighed. "But Royy told me that prison Miles was put in is strict on visitors and takes a while to respond to those who request to visit."

"Oh wonderful. Now we may never have any answers to anything." Silver complained, going into the living room. "Hey, where's that journal?"

"In a drawer in my room."

"May I see it?"

Holley went and got it, returning with it on her hood. "Here." She tilted herself downwards, sliding the book off and watching it land perfectly in front of Silver. "Though I don't know what you could decipher from that since no one else can figure anything."

"Eh, just wanted to look at it. Maybe I could try again." Silver opened the journal and read some of Finn's old entries while Holley went and contacted Royy to ask if he heard back from the prison. After a while of reading, Silver got to the end quickly and went to the strangest page.

 _I never knew how hard it was to keep secrets until now. I cannot believe Holley Shiftwell is my new spy partner…_

That part just stood out to Silver the most. "You know, reading over this makes me wonder something." she brought up quietly. Holley rolled over to the Malibu, a little down because Royy still hadn't heard back.

"What would that be?" she asked, wondering if she even wanted to know when she saw what page her friend was on.

"Well, seeing as how Finn wrote that he couldn't believe you were his partner just makes me think… I don't know." Silver trailed off.

"What does it make you think? Silver, please tell me." Holley begged. She was desperate at this point to know anything. Silver kept staring at the book, then finally brought her violet eyes up to emerald ones.

"Have you ever thought that maybe," She paused to lower her voice. "maybe _you_ might have something to do with him?"

"Me?" Holley was astounded. She had never thought of herself having anything to do with her partner's strange behavior. The idea never crossed her mind, actually. "Why would you think that I have anything to do with Finn going insane? I've never done anything to him!" she slightly panicked.

"Whoa, no, I'm not saying you did anything to him!" Silver assured. "All I said was _maybe_ you might have had something to do with it. I am not saying you are the reason."

"Still, why would that thought even cross your mind?!" Now that it had been brought up, Holley was overthinking it.

"Because-"

"No, wait, what if you're right? What if I _AM_ the reason my own partner lost his mind?!" And there it went. Holley's mind was a sudden mess of thoughts, all thinking of every 'what could I have possibly done' it could think of. But she hadn't known Finn long enough to do anything even slightly irrational to him.

"I didn't mean it like that! Stop freaking out about it, please Holley!" Silver tried to convince Holley to quit over thinking what she just said and was regretting saying it in the first place. She grabbed the purple car's front with both tires and held her firmly in place. "Listen to me! You are NOT the reason he's gone, okay?"

The sudden pressure of being held in place yanked Holley's thoughts back to sanity. "Really? Are you sure? Because I saw that page you were looking at, and I can see why I could be a reason Finn's gone, considering he's keeping secrets from me." she stated calmly. "Don't lie to me, Sil. Do you actually think there's a possibility?"

Silver let go. "Well, if I had to be completely honest, maybe." she sighed. "It's kinda ludicrous, but still. It isn't unlikely, but I wouldn't say it's true. Actually, I doubt it."

"I hope it's not true." The room was silent for a moment. "Interesting thought of a theory, though." Holley added.

"Yeah." Another beat of silence. "So, what now?" Silver pondered.

"I don't know. We can't do anything until we get permission to-"

The ring of a phone sliced the air. Holley disappeared to answer it, exchanging a hopeful look with Silver.

"I'll bet that's the call they need…" the Malibu whispered to herself. Sure enough, Holley came back after a few seconds with a smile on her lips.

"You coming or staying?" was all she said.

 **...**

"Yes! We have clearance to go!" Duchess happily exclaimed when the news was announced. "Who all is going?"

As soon as Royy had told Holley that permission was granted, it didn't take long for word to spread. Holley and Silver told their friends, while Royy made an announcement to everyone else in the vicinity. Only a few were to be going on this trip to the prison, and one of those few was Holley, the only car the Tuners, RS, and WGP vehicles were looking up to as a leader since Finn snapped. Because of that, everyone had to be on high-alert and be extra-prepared for anything, such as another attack (they hoped not for another) or being sent on a mission (which sounded a little exciting to them). Holley already had who all was going with her narrowed down to a select few.

"Well, so far there's me, you, and Mater." Holley answered. "I feel like one more car should go with us, but who?"

"Who do you think would make sense to take? Like, who is the most experienced?" Duchess quizzed as the two of them looked around at everybody. Just about everyone had the same amount of practice in the simulations like everyone else, so choosing just one would be difficult. Duchess didn't know many C.H.R.O.M.E. agents and didn't know who Holley was friends with other than the cars from Radiator Springs, Tuners, and WGP Racers, so surely the fourth car would be someone they both knew.

"I would say Silver since the others are almost fully trained, but she has to stay behind with these guys. She's the only spy here who knows all the drills and procedures that the others are still learning." Holley responded.

"True." Duchess paused. "This is off-topic, but can I ask something?"

"What is it?"

"Everyone here is being taught how to be a secret agent, right? Showing them this place, teaching them fighting moves, giving them weapons, learning them about espionage and how to do it correctly…you know, stuff like that. Is C.H.R.O.M.E. trying to make them into actual spies?" Duchess queried.

"I do believe so. Technically, they are all spies since C.H.R.O.M.E. did hire them as soon as they got here. We really needed the backup in case of another attack, which we got three months later. So really, they're already secret agents, but need more practice before they're completely ready." Holley explained.

"Still, what about when this is all over? The guys from Carburetor County, Arizona have a town they need to run. From what I've heard, that shy firetruck, crazy old Model-T, and those two girly Miatas can't take care of Radiator Springs by themselves. I'm sure there might be some help, but the majority of that help is here. Then there's those Tuner Cars who might want to go back to America and hang with their other friends. You know how punks are. And what about those international racers? They need to get back to their home countries and to their careers soon. Plus that other racer…oh, I think his name is Todd? Yeah, that's it. Todd has the next Piston Cup racing season to be in. And Lightning." Duchess reminded Holley that all the new spies had lives they couldn't abandon.

She already had thought of that. "Yes, I know. Our friends have all pledged their loyalty to C.H.R.O.M.E. and have sworn not to ever betray us since consequences will befall them. They're all keeping their secret agent spy jobs, well, secret, yet they may only tell one other vehicle about it in case emergencies arise. Some of them, specifically the racers, cannot be absent from their careers without good reason. They all came willingly and have not asked to go home, so that means this is important to them, and I'm sure their jobs and careers are just as important. Things they will still have are their communication devices and some weapons - but the weapons probably won't always be in them. I'd hate for them to get caught and exposed. Not to mention those weapons are not cheap, so if they get confiscated… It won't be pretty trying to explain why the weapons are gone." Holley finished her explanation, hoping Duchess would understand.

"Oh, okay. That makes sense. They go back to their lives, but come running back when the agency calls?"

"Precisely."

"Alright." Duchess glanced back to everyone. "So, who's coming?"

"Nobody is paying attention or making eye-contact, so I don't know who even wants to go." Holley pointed out. Over to the side, Mater was talking to Lightning, sounding almost excited that he was getting to go. The two female spies listened.

"Why are you so happy about going to a prison?" Lightning questioned his best friend.

"'Cause it shore beats stayin' here another day!" Mater emphasized. "Three weeks of doin' nuthin' makes a feller like me get bored." He looked at Lightning. "Ain't you bored, too?"

The racecar looked like he was about to say 'no' but stopped. The tow truck was right; sitting around and doing nothing wasn't fun and Lightning was longing to do something, anything. "In all honesty, yes I'm bored out of my mind! The simulation room is still unusable because the guys fixing it keep uncovering more damages, they don't have a physical racetrack here to drive on, and all the outdoor training grounds have been taken over by the ones who need it the most! Those new agents-in-training think they're so cool because they get to be here, and constantly make fun of us because we can't do anything. They've never been in the simulations before, so they don't know what pain feels like! Oh, I can't wait until that room gets fixed so I can just show them what's what and beat their-!" Lightning cut his rant short, seeing Mater backing away and shrinking down on his axles. "Um, anyway… So yeah, I'm bored." he added calmly.

Mater said nothing at first, a little scared of Lightning's random outburst. "Uh, wull I'll say ya are, buddy…" he said carefully. "Hey, how's 'bout you come along wit me?" he asked, getting his excitement back. Lightning looked surprised.

"Really? You want me to go with you guys?"

"Why not? Ya are my best friend, and it wouldn't hurt ta take a fourth car." Mater paused. "I think that would make four of us…"

"Not to mention we would like one more to tag along." Holley cut in, pulling up to them with Duchess behind her. "You never know what could happen along the way or when we get there."

"So, are you coming? We really want to get going now." Duchess informed.

"Yes. Anything to escape boredom." Lightning answered instantly. "And it's been a year. Kinda curious as to how the vehicle who tried to kill me is doing." he added with a sinister look. The other three noticed but said nothing.

When the four were all equipped with weapons and reloaded, they announced their leave. Duchess was looking for Holley, who had disappeared just after telling everyone they were going. She found her in the weapons room installing another weapon into her right tire rim.

"Alright, I think everyone knows now." Duchess leaned to the side as if to see what the other agent was doing. "What's that?" she wondered.

"Just something Finn left for me." Holley answered, holding out her tire and looking at it. She clicked out her new weapon, aiming it forwards, sideways, and diagonally. It felt excellent, like a brand-new gun with the perfect grip. "I don't know what it does, how it works, or if it even kills."

"You know nothing about it, but you took it anyway? Not to mention it came from a car who is now our enemy?" Duchess reminded.

"Eh, I trust this. Even if it came from Finn, there's just something about it that makes me not…scared…" Holley's voice went quiet. She couldn't quite explain it herself, but it was just an odd feeling of trust that came out of nowhere. It was something that had to do with Finn, since every time this feeling would pop up, the subject was about him. Still, Holley couldn't quite place why. "I don't know. It's weird, but oddly comforting."

"Oooooookay, but if whatever that thing is malfunctions or blows up, don't say I didn't remind you who it came from." Duchess turned and started out with Holley behind her. "Now let's get outta here already. Lightning and Mater are getting anxious, and I've been anxious ever since we asked permission to go!"

"I can tell." Holley snickered. "Have you said your goodbye to you-know-who?" she added with a sly smirk, tapping her rear fender against the Elantra's.

"Uh, I haven't seen him all day." Duchess shyly hid her face from Holley's gaze. "A-and what's that face and tone for?"

"It's obvious. Don't deny it."

"Deny what?"

"You know. You two were manufactured for each other."

Duchess didn't say anything to agree with that statement. But she didn't deny it, either.

Once the group of four were gathered by the doors of the main building, it was finally time to go for real. This place Miles was sent to was far, but there was no need to fly. All the jets had to stay behind in case of an emergency, and the four needed to be stealthy anyway. The ones who stayed behind wished not for the group to have any troubles. 'Goodbyes' were said as the four would be gone and not see their friends for a week, and one particular 'goodbye' lasted longer than the others.

"Duchess, mon amour, arrêtez!"

The Elantra halted instantly. She was just about to head out the door when the musical voice of Raoul held her firmly in place. Excitedly, but containing herself, Duchess turned around to see the Frenchcar heading to her, weaving in and out of random agents passing through. He looked a bit sluggish, rather than the agile car he is. "Raoul! Where have you been?" Duchess exclaimed when Raoul got to her. There was a faraway look in his eyes, like he didn't want to answer directly. Also, he looked quite tired.

"I have been…places." he said in a breathy, sleep-deprived tone. "Mainly online and calling cars back in France. But zat is unimportant right now. I know I have been absent all day from you, so I have come to say goodbye. I am sorry, my love, for not being with you at all today." Raoul looked at Duchess and held her gaze for a moment, being truthful with his apology. He really did want to be with her during that time.

She could tell he was being honest. "It's okay, Raoul. I'll be back in about a week, but I'll miss you…" Duchess didn't care who was looking and didn't care that she'd never done this before, but she hugged him. Tightly.

Raoul was taken aback by the sudden embrace but returned the tight hug instantly. "I do not care zat it will only be about seven days, even a minute away from you is like an eternity…" he whispered so that only she would hear.

"Yes, it is…" Duchess whispered back, pressing herself more into him. She didn't want to let go, or him to let go of her. The safe feeling she was getting just by being in Raoul's embrace was a feeling Duchess had never felt before. This feeling… It was like nothing could ever touch her or hurt her again. Like she was a child, innocent with an ignorant bliss of all the danger and problems of the world, and having forgotten her past as well. Oh, it was a wonderful feeling, and Duchess dreaded the moment they would have to let go. She really didn't want to; not only was this the most comforting thing ever, but Raoul smelled good too. He smelled like masculine car air fresheners and like he'd just been through the carwash.

"I wish I could go along." Raoul broke the silence between them, feeling exactly the same as his love.

"I do too." Duchess sighed. "But you can't…"

"I know, and I do not like it…"

"Ahem, dear love-cars…"

The two hatchbacks slid away from each other at the sound of Lightning's voice, looking lovingly and awkwardly at each other.

"It's time to go." Holley urged.

"Okay." Duchess looked into Raoul's tired eyes. "I have to go, but I'll see you again."

Raoul nodded. "Go, do what you are called to do. Just promise me zat you will be safe zhere and back. You know how dangerous a penitentiary is, so you best have your guard up, you hear?" he instructed like an overprotective parent.

"We won't be there for a long time, and besides, everyone is locked up." Duchess said with a smirk and roll of her eyes.

"Does it look like I care?" Raoul stated with that firm 'don't make me go 'dad' on you and give you a lecture' look in his sleepy eyes. "Just be safe."

"I promise I will be."

" _Duchess_ , come _on_." Now it was Mater's turn to urge her. Dang, if _Mater_ was getting impatient, that meant it really was - right then and there - _time to go_.

"Alright, I really gotta go now! Goodbye Raoul!" Duchess gave him one last tight hug, but something different happened with this one. In the back of her mind, Duchess swore up and down she heard something…

"Goodbye, my sweet! I shall await your return!" Raoul announced when they let go and Duchess went out the door with Holley, Lightning, and Mater.

Raoul stood there for a moment, just checking out Duchess's bumper before she disappeared from sight. He smirked at it and then yawned, hearing someone come up beside him.

"You really do love her a lot, I can tell."

"Oh, you know I do, Max." Raoul responded, stretching. "Ugh, I zhink I may go lie down for a nap."

"That does not surprise me." Max looked at Raoul in question. "Vhat vere you doing up all night, anyvay?" Raoul looked at him with happiness in his eyes.

"Come, and you shall see." Max followed Raoul outside to the housing units, up to the house they shared with Miguel. They entered and went to the bedrooms.

"Miguel und I vere both up und vondering vhy there vas a light coming from your room." Max said as they both stopped in front of a door. "Und it sounded like you vere on the phone a couple times, too."

"Zat is because I was." Raoul confirmed, nudging open his door. He went in and straight to his laptop, opening it. "Sleep could wait, for somezhing like zis is more important." Raoul turned and bowed slightly, presenting what was on the screen with a gesture of his tire. Max came all the way into the room with squinted eyes, which widened upon seeing what Raoul had sacrificed sleep to look at.

"Oh, Raoul! Really?!" he asked, an excited smile on his lips. "Are you that serious?" He was almost bouncing up and down, being happy for his friend.

"I am." Raoul stated proudly, knowing how animated Max can be. "Do you zhink it is perfect? Zee right one? I was calling all zee places zat had zee best ones and looking at zheir websites."

"Raoul, my friend, she vill love it." Max assured, placing a tire on Raoul's fender.

The French racer smiled with a nervous blush. "I can only hope so." He looked back to the screen. "I will wait, but in time, I will do it."

 **...**

"Are we thar yet?" Mater lazily asked for the umpteenth time. "My wheels are killin' me!"

"We'll be there soon!" Holley answered, just a tiny bit annoyed. She could tell who had patience and who didn't. And it was obvious who didn't.

"How soon is 'soon'?" Mater pestered. "Seems like ya said that, uh, last time ya said that!"

"Because she did." Lightning sided by his best friend. "We'll get there when we get there, so stop asking! You're getting on everyone's nerves here!" Driving the first two days without rest proved to be a bit much for Mater. They had rested at the end of the second day, but by day three, everyone was irritated by the constant 'are we there yet?' questions.

"Is that why ya never took me with you to yer Piston Cup races?" Mater suspected, unoffended. "'Cause you knowed I'd be askin' a lot?"

"Well, it would be a lie to say no…" Lightning couldn't lie.

"Yeah, I wouldn't take me with me on long road trips either, seein' as how I tend ta start annoyin' ever'body." Mater confessed.

"You're not annoying, you're just…oh, what's a good word? Repetitive. Yeah, you can get repetitive after a while." Lightning said, not trying to make the tow truck feel bad.

"As long as I'm not repeatin' myself too much, I guess it's okay."

"Yeah. And you can start by stopping your asking if we're there yet."

While Lightning kept Mater company, mainly to prevent him from sounding like a broken record, Holley and Duchess were side-by-side up in front. They had talked about a few things already, from their own spy-adventure stories, to what the future was going to be like, to girly things and whatever else, they had already touched many subjects. Now that Lightning and Mater were making a racket behind them, the girls couldn't help but talk about boys.

"Listen to them back there." Holley glanced back at them.

"Just like children." Duchess snickered. "But then again, men are just overgrown children."

"Well, Mater can be." Holley cut her eyes slyly at Duchess. "But a certain hatchback is more of a gentlecar, isn't he?" The Elantra pushed at Holley with her tire.

"Oh, shut your face. We're not together." she said defensively.

"Are you sure? I see the way you look at him and how he looks at you, and just remember how long it took you two to say 'goodbye'." Holley reminded.

"Still doesn't mean that we're together." Duchess wished it was not true. She wished they were together. "I will admit, I like him, but I don't know if I should let him into my heart."

"What makes you think you shouldn't?" Holley asked with curiosity.

"Everything. My past, mostly. I just don't know what to do. The way Raoul talks to me… It's like he cares more about what's inside my heart, rather than outside appearance." Duchess said like it was a dream. "It's almost like…like…"

"Like what?"

"Like he's trying to tear down the walls I put around myself. He's very persistent with me, yet patient at the same time." Duchess turned herself more towards her friend. "Holley, it feels like we are meant to be. When I gave him that one last hug, I heard a voice in my mind."

"What did it say?" Holley was interested.

"It said _'_ _he is the one…'_ and it sounded like the voice of a family member who has passed and was very near and dear to me." Duchess sighed. "But I don't know if he is! I've had this happen once before, minus hearing a voice say that he was the one. Are Raoul and I meant to be together?"

"It sounds like it, especially if a deceased family member is telling you." Holley responded after a moment of silence. "And it looks like it too. You should just wait and let him make all the moves. Don't let him lead you on. Just keep acting the way you've been acting around him. You'll know if he's truly 'The One' in time."

"I sure hope…"

Behind them, there was a little scuffle.

"Mater!"

"Ah did'in do it!"

"What is it now?" Holley groaned, not wanting to know.

"Mater was flinging rocks and got me dented!" Lightning accused, showing off a new dent in his fender.

"I swear it wasn' me! It was the wind!" Mater cried defensively. "Besides, what's the harm in havin' a lil' itty-bitty dent?"

"Lots of things. I didn't want any in the first place!"

"But I'm covered in de-"

"Okay, you two children, knock it off!" Duchess scolded them, making everyone stop. She turned around and widened her eyes at just where they halted at.

"Yes, _please_ be quiet, both of you." Holley begged. "Complaining, arguing, and wondering when we'll be there. That's all we have been hearing for the past three days."

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we took an entire day ta rest." Mater suggested. "We've only stopped one night ta sleep in a motel, which wasn't _nuthin_ ' like the Cozy Cone, and that ain't enough for my achin' wheels."

"We're secret agents now, Mater. We can't rest whenever we want to. We have business to take care of." Lightning reminded. "Resting is only available when it's a necessity, and even then, it's hard to come by."

"Yes, Lightning is right. Secret agents don't take rests until the problem is solved. Come on, Mater. I know you can bear with us until we get there, right?" Holley encouraged.

"I guess I can try." Mater stood taller on his axles. "I can."

"That's the spirit!" Holley hoped Mater wouldn't forget what he said. "We're almost there, anyway."

"Holley?"

"Yes?"

"We're here." Duchess's voice was almost sinister when she announced their arrival. The large iron gate stood tall, with thick bars preventing anyone from entering. The building was at a distance though visible from where the four were standing, looking scary with its white-painted metal beginning to rust. Tiny windows that were probably still tiny up close were barricaded by thick steel bars. The grass was all short around the structure and there were hardly any trees to decorate the barren landscape. Overall, the prison looked very plain and boring, yet was eerie and looming. "So, this is what prison looks like. Fun." Duchess joked.

"Yeah, sure…" Holley slowly rolled up to the brick pillar where the doorbell was. She pressed the button and waited for someone to answer, staring into the camera that seemed to stare back into her soul. Funnily enough, someone probably was on the other side. Suddenly, an electronic beep went off with several pitch changes, sounding as if the two-way speaker was trying to sing.

"Hello, ma'am. What brings you here today?" a clear, gruff British voice asked. Respectful, but unfriendly.

"Here with permission to visit inmate Miles Axlerod." Holley said as firmly as she could.

"Sent by whom?"

"Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage. Otherwise known as C.H.R.O.M.E., sir. Permission to enter?"

"Permission granted."

The large gates began to creak with a horrid sound as they opened slowly. Lightning, Mater, and Duchess all lined up behind Holley and followed her in. They had no trouble getting to the prison building or entering it, either. All that happened when the agents came through the doors was getting checked by security. A couple of guards, both Chevy Silverados modified to be prison guards - one dark green and the other black, halted them and had them drive through a scanner. It was no surprise that the scanners picked up their weapons.

"Hm, it seems you have weaponry on your vehicle." the black truck observed when the scanner beeped loudly, bringing attention to Holley's arsenal.

"Yes, sir, I do. We all do." Holley thought it would be best to explain before this looked bad. However, before she could say anything, the other truck spoke up.

"Wait a minute, you're the group from that agency, correct?" This one had no accent, clearly not from England.

"That would be us, yes." Holley affirmed. "We are all hired, certified, and trained agents. Our weapons are mandatory, sirs." She also showed her secret agent badge, as did the other three.

"Visitors are prohibited from having weapons, but exceptions are made for spies. You may proceed once we confirm you truly are agents." the black truck told them.

After they all went through the security check and had their identities confirmed, they were allowed to go to the front desk. There was a blue and white sedan on the other side, monitoring cameras and whatever else was on the computer screens. His brown eyes flicked to the four cars approaching him.

"Agents from C.H.R.O.M.E.," he addressed with a nod. "the inmate you wish to speak to is waiting in a private cell away from others. He has no idea who's coming to see him, only that he has visitors."

"Just like I hardly know who we're seeing." Duchess quietly piped up, having not met Miles, but knowing his name.

"If you will, follow me." The guard rose all the way up on his axles and rolled out from behind the desk. "Keep an eye on my monitors, too." he said to someone who was unseen, hidden in the corner and behind computer monitors.

"Alright." a bored female voice responded. The group followed the male to a set of doors, all turning to see a female coupe watching the screens without interest when they passed by.

The doors were tall and quite thick, yet opened soundlessly when the sedan placed his rim up to a scanner. The four agents were ready to go in, but the sedan kept them at bay.

"Now, I must warn you four, especially you ladies, that these inmates in here are very vulgar and might make inappropriate remarks. For less dangerous prisoners, they sure do make a racket and make you think they're more dangerous than they actually are. Just don't look at them or provoke them, understood?" He looked at each one of them.

"Yes, sir, we understand." Lightning spoke up.

"Does he?" The sedan pointed at Mater. Just by looking at him, the security monitor could tell the tow truck wasn't used to what was on the other side of the doors.

"I sure 'nough understand, sir." Mater assured. "I think…"

"Just don't look at anyone in there. Keep your eyes on my back window, okay?" Holley touched her tire to Mater's, earning a nod from him.

The guard turned back around and led them through. Instantly, the place erupted into yelling chaos. Inmates were calling to all five vehicles, throwing vulgar insults and words to the security monitor. They started making fun of Mater once they got a good look at the tow truck. He kept his eyes glued to Holley's back window and lowered his front in shame, trying to block out everyone. Things only got worse when the prisoners started whistling at and cat-calling the girls. All the disrespectful and inappropriate crap that was coming out of their mouths was shocking to all of them, especially Mater, and none of it was directed at him. Holley felt extremely uncomfortable, hearing about how twenty male vehicles were going to 'make both dem girls scream and beg for more'. Duchess was getting more and more pissed hearing that same thing, wanting nothing more than to take every single inmate out back and put a bullet through their cabins, then escape to Raoul. Lightning was getting attention too, being an obvious racecar and getting mocked for being famous out of jealousy by the inmates. He bit back his own insults and curses and prayed they would get out of there faster. The guard was as mad as the other four, hating every moment he spent in any of the rooms with two levels of cells. Every time he went in one of those rooms, at least one inmate had to say something vulgar, and that just set him off. Luckily for all of them, they reached the other side and escaped all the vulgarity of the prisoners.

"Finally out of there!" The guard was the first to express his feelings. "I'm just like anyone else who goes through there. I hate it."

"And you probably have to deal with that a lot." Duchess looked back to the doors with anger. "That must be horrible."

Holley sided beside Mater. "I heard what they were saying in there. Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

Mater sighed. "Yeah, I'm alright. I never had anyone talk ta me like that. I'll shake it off sooner or later, though."

They continued on their way down the hall and made a couple of turns until they got to a door.

"He's waiting on the other side." the sedan said as he placed a tire on the door to open it. "Give him a surprise." And he opened the door.

The room was small: half-open and half-jail cell. It looked like an interrogation room that was split in half with bars straight down the horizontal middle. The walls of the room were painted white, and the floor was unpainted, chipped concrete. In the walls were dents where vehicles had gotten so mad at who-knows-what, that they took their wrath out on the building. Aside from dents, chains adorned the walls as well, destined to be used as restraints. They looked like they hadn't been used in a long time, though. However, the only thing that stood out the most in the room was who was standing just yards away. Miles Axlerod was looking down at the ground with a small scowl on his face, almost as if he was in deep thought or studying the floor. Holley led the group in slowly, and without moving, Miles flicked his gaze up to her. He blinked in surprise, then smirked.

"Well, look who it is." he started, looking at all four of his visitors. "The lady spy, the tow truck that ruined me, that blasted racecar who was supposed to die, and a lovely Hyundai I have never met. Welcome, old _friends_ , to the place you have sent me. Isn't it just homey?" Miles's voice dripped with sarcasm, and he bit out the word 'friends'.

"It suits you well." Holley sassed.

"I suppose you could say it does." Miles sighed with a glare. "Why are you here?"

"We wanna know some things." Mater answered. "An' we think _you_ might know 'bout it."

"Oh, what a pity. The great secret agents need help from an enemy who is behind bars." Miles shook his hood in disappointment. "Such a shame."

"Even if you were on our side, you'd need help as well!" Lightning snapped.

"Maybe if you were dead, you wouldn't be in need of help in the first place!" Miles snapped back. He glared at Mater next. "And if it wasn't for you, I would be the richest vehicle on Earth, and you four wouldn't be caught up in this mess, now would you?" Miles was almost laughing out of mockery, clearly knowing what was going on.

"What do you mean? What do you know?" Lightning questioned, pulling close to the bars.

"More than you think." Miles casually answered, having no interest in helping them.

Holley came forward. "Miles, please help us. Yes, yes, everything at the World Grand Prix didn't go your way and we ruined it for you. But this is much more different than that."

"How so?"

"There's this crazed maniac who is doing…weird things." Holley paused, realizing that she didn't know what the heck was even going on. "He attacked us twice, killing many of our agents and kidnapping some both times. They're really powerful, and…and…"

"And you need help to defeat them?" Miles finished for her, listening the whole time like Holley was telling a story he already knew, and only he knew how it ended.

"It's not that we need help to defeat them, but…"

"We need help." Duchess cut Holley off. "Holley, there's no use in fibbing to a prisoner. It's obvious we need help, and quite frankly, if we don't do something about it, then that's the end of it for us." Duchess came up to Miles, wondering how he was a Lemon since he was a Range Rover. Must have had a bad engine. "Hi. I don't know you and you don't know me, but I've heard a lot about you. There's this insane car who is plotting stuff and he has weapons we are not familiar with. He killed a bunch of C.H.R.O.M.E.'s spies and kidnapped some as well, including my group's leader. This car is also the leader of all the Lemon families and we have no idea what he's planning on doing next. Whatever it is, we feel his plan is sinister, even more dangerous than your plan with that race. Would you care to help us?" Duchess said all that in a professional tone, not breaking eye contact. Miles thought for a moment.

"Depends." He shifted his weight from his left tires to his right ones. "Do I get anything out of helping you failing idiots?"

Holley narrowed her eyes. "What are you asking for?" she asked with a growl.

Miles glared right back, but with a smirk. "Your loyalty to help me."

The four were taken by surprise. "I dun' think we can give ya that." Mater spoke up after a beat. "It be C.H.R.O.M.E.'s policy not ta mess 'round with the enemy."

"Technically, I am not your enemy anymore. Trust me, this place is like made of steel and very difficult to bust out of." Miles glared all around at the walls surrounding him. "There's nothing I can do here, and if I managed to get out, there's nothing else I can do, anyway. Without my followers, I am a lonely Lemon." Miles's voice played with pity for himself. "Which should be good news for you."

"Sure it is, but I just have to ask something." Lighting spoke up.

"Ask away. I have all the time in the world."

"Why aren't you with the other Lemons? Or their leader? They were all in prison just like you, but why are they busted out and you not?"

Miles sighed angrily, but not at Lightning. "Because my plan for Lemons to rise failed. I would not have been much use to this new plan." He scoffed. "Besides, this place is hard enough to break out of anyway. Zündapp tried to see if there was a way to get me out, but gave up and said if I couldn't do it myself, then I wasn't good enough to Mystery to be a part of his plan. Well, those were Mystery's words for me. Zündapp just passed them on."

This caught the others' attention. "You know who Mystery is?" Mater questioned in surprise.

"Of course I do." Miles gave everyone an 'are you four really that stupid?' look. "You honestly think I know absolutely nothing about him? Even though I am locked up in this bloody place, I still get told about everything. I know more than you."

"So, what can you tell us?" Holley wanted to know everything, though.

"I say nothing to those who are against me."

"But you're not even a part of Mystery's clan."

"Still doesn't mean I can't be trusted with their information." Miles softened his look with a small sigh. "But apparently since I am not good enough for Mystery, I might make an exception to fracture that trust. Without them knowing, of course." He messed with his tire on the concrete floor. "So, do I get your loyalty to help me, or is it no deal?"

"Do you think we would trust you?" Holley instantly responded.

"Then it looks like there is nothing I can do for you." Miles turned away, prompting the others to leave for a moment.

"We'll be right back." Holley said before she went out the door. "Don't go anywhere." she added with a mocking look.

"Oh, what do we do, guys? I don't know him, so I don't know if there's anything in him that can be trusted!" Duchess whispered once the door shut.

"He tried to KILL me. I don't think that piece of crap can be trusted in any way!" Lightning put in.

"All I did was expose 'im. He prolly hates me the most." Mater said, knowing that detracts from trust. All their eyes went to Holley, who was clearly at a loss on what to do. Oh, how she wished Finn was by her side to tell her what would be the best thing to do!

"Miles was our enemy about a year ago." she began. "Right now, he's our only option to get what we need to know. If he knows everything, then Miles is the whistleblower we need. Even though he might not tell us everything, what he does tell us might be helpful."

"So what you're saying is, we should help him, so he can help us?" Duchess summed up.

Holley sighed with much regret for her answer. "As much as we are not allowed to do this, yes. It is time for us 'good guys' to break some rules." She looked at them all firmly. "Let's go."

They reentered the room, all wondering if this was such a good idea. Even if it wasn't, what else did they have to lose?

"So," Miles, who was still facing the wall, angled his mirror to see them. "have we made a decision?"

The four all looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing to confirm it. "Yes, we have. What exactly do you want?" Holley answered. There was no going back now.

"Good, good." Miles turned to face them. "All I ask is that you help me get out of here. And maybe give a few secrets of C.H.R.O.M.E., too. Is it a deal?"

Holley was about to object, but Duchess hit her door. "Deal. But _we_ choose what you get to know about the agency." she said, her tone very hard. "Remember, we are your only way to escape.

"Fair enough. Now, what may I help you with?" Miles asked, waiting.

"Who is Mystery?" Holley was the first to ask.

"Ah, I'm afraid even I cannot answer that. No one seems to know who he is, or what his real name is, for that matter." Miles gave his honest answer.

"Okay…" Holley wasn't totally convinced, but didn't pester Miles about it. "Then do you know what he's doing? Why he's doing it?"

"Since you agents are picky about what to tell me about your agency, I feel obliged to only tell you what I wish to tell you about Mystery. It's only fair." The looks Miles got from the group told him they were frustrated with that answer, but would put up with it. "Now, you wonder what he's doing, eh? All I can tell you is that he wants to do something similar to what I did, but bigger. Lots bigger. Why? I heard it has to do with his past."

"Mystery is going to become super rich and have the world bow down to Lemons because of his past?" Lightning pondered, saying it how he understood it.

Miles scowled at his choice of words. "Not just to us, as you so rudely say, _Lemons_ , but to _him_. And yes, it seems his past plays a part in it somehow."

"So he wants ta take over the world?!" Mater panicked. "We gotta do somethin' 'bout it!"

"If we can find him, we should just kill him then." Duchess threw out, causing Miles to chuckle.

"Oh, I'm afraid it won't be that easy, dear. Mystery lives up to his nickname and is extremely dangerous. His weapons cannot be matched. Even the professor was stunned at Mystery's creations." Miles explained.

"Is Professor Z his weapons designer, like he was for you?" Holley asked.

"Yes, and Zündapp was terribly busy building Mystery's secret weapon. So busy, in fact, that he never had time to come visit me and tell me anything new. At least it's completed now and he'll make his regular stops to fill me in. It should work out for you four as well." Miles finished with a nod, talking as casually as one could.

"Wait, a weapon? What kind of weapon?" Holley rolled forward, just begging for more information.

"A weapon of extreme power, and if it falls into the wrong tires, heh, goodbye world as we know it." Miles said without concern. Like that helped.

"Whatsit do?" Mater questioned.

"I'm afraid that's all I can say. I can tell no more." Miles smiled. "Bad guy's gotta keep his secrets, ya know?"

"So now there's a weapon we must be careful of." Holley was thinking of all Miles said. "Maybe if we can find it and destroy it," She looked at the Range Rover. "would that hinder them at all?"

"Only if you can even get to it. It's heavily guarded, being their most powerful weapon and all." Miles paused, thinking. "Hmm, oh, and it's the most important piece to Mystery's oh-so-great plan. Without it, he, his followers, his plan - they're all nothing. So destroying it should set them back quite a ways."

"Do you know where it is?" Holley almost excitedly asked. Maybe, just maybe, if this thing could be destroyed, that would be a huge step in getting her partner back!

"I do not know everything, and I will not tell everything." Miles responded. "But in all honesty, I actually do not know where they are keeping this fabled weapon. All I know is that they made it, and what it does." The green Lemon scanned his eyes over the four. "Anything else? Though I'm certain you've asked all that I will answer."

After exchanging glances, the spies decided the answers were good enough. "No, that will be all, Miles." Holley said. "Now, you've got our help. What is it you want?"

"Wait a minute, Holley." Lightning cut in. "How do we know he's not lying?" He cast a glance at Miles.

"I have no reason to lie." Miles demurred. "They could have busted me out, but they didn't. Said I wasn't worth it if I couldn't do it myself. I could have been excellent help, but Mystery didn't give me a chance." He snickered. "What better, silent revenge than to give information to the enemy? So here I am now, telling you things better kept unsaid. I'm helping you, and you're going to help me. What do you say, Lightning?" Miles asked in that same tone he used to get the racecar to participate in the WGP.

Now it was Lightning's turn to sigh, feeling like he was going to regret this. "Alright, Miles. What can we do for you? How do we get you out of here?"

Miles's eyes sparkled "I haven't been out much, but I do know there are hallways underground, serving as the basement-storage area. If you can, sneak into it and find your way up to me. The same room you came through with all those dreadful inmates is the same room I'm in. Luckily, I'm in the bottom corner cell, so you won't have much trouble getting to me. Once I'm free, we'll sneak out."

"What if we git caught?" Mater asked, worried about that.

"Then that's on you. You all are super spies, so remember that when we're on our way out. Really, sneaking around should be your specialties, so getting caught shouldn't be a worry, right?" Miles reminded them.

"That's the stereotype." Duchess admitted. "Is this going to take some time? Are we going to have to dig a hole through the wall?"

"Maybe. Actually, that's the safest way to do it. We can't just saunter on out of here like we own the place, now can we?"

"I guess not." Holley faced the bars and stared hard at Miles. "Okay, Miles Axlerod. You've made a deal, and you better not be lying about anything you've told us, or anything in the future. I'll personally kill you if you are."

Miles was a little surprised by this. "I swear on my life that I am being truthful with my word, both now and in the days to come." he promised.

"Your life?" Holley narrowed her eyes, clicking out her gun in her rim. "You better hope that's not a _short_ promise." she threatened.

"You have my word, Agent Holley Shiftwell."

 **...**

Back at C.H.R.O.M.E.'s headquarters, things were still as slow as they were. It seemed as though absolutely nothing was going to happen, especially to all the vehicles in the technical area.

"Man, I only have one word to describe what today has been like." Lewis said out of the blue.

"What's that?" Jeff pondered.

"Sucks."

"Oh, you got that right."

A few of the newer agents had gotten bored enough, that they actually went to the communications wing, where all the urgent calls come in and satellites pick up criminal activity. Jeff and Lewis, along with Sheriff, Sarge, Chick, and a few others, decided to be extra help and keep watch on the screens for activity. That job proved to get boring after a while, so the newcomers decided to hack into cameras all over the world and check out places until they got caught and almost kicked out. It wasn't their fault C.H.R.O.M.E.'s technology was advanced enough to do things like that. The only thing remotely interesting that happened was when Sheriff hacked into a camera in a Mexican nightclub, where the cars were drunk and a brawl was happening. Sarge got his screen to show a different angle of the club, where the intoxicated vehicles were speaking Spanish so incoherently, that it was funny to everybody. Especially to the cars that could understand them, Miguel and Ramone, who passed by communications at one point during that. The sound of techno music and drunk Mexican cars fighting brought attention to the vehicle in charge of the communications wing, and the newcomers had to shut their entertainment down, lest they be kicked out. After that incident, the day became what the past three weeks had been: nothing significant.

"Huuuuuuuh…" Jeff sighed loudly, just wanting the day to end. "Oh man, I can't wait for all the excitement that'll _definitely_ happen in the next two minutes!" He faked an excited tone.

"Oh, yeah. Me either, man!" Lewis faked as well. The two best friends snickered, just knowing they were wrong. At least, they thought they were.

 ** _BRRING! BRRING!_**

Lewis jumped at the sudden alert sounding through his hoodphones. The screen he was keeping an eye on was flashing red, with an urgent phone call symbol blinking as well. "What in the world?" the racer mumbled, dazed from the alarm sound.

"It's an urgent phone call!" Jeff exclaimed. "Answer it!"

"But I hardly know what to do!"

"So? It beats sitting and doing nothing. Answer before you lose it!"

"Okay, okay!" Lewis frantically searched for the button to answer and silence the alarm in his hoodphones. "H-hello?"

" _Duchess? Is that you? Since when did you sound like a British man?_ " came the caller on the other end. " _Wait a minute, this isn't Duch… Who is this?_ "

"Um, a new agent at C.H.R.O.M.E., ma'am."

"Give your name and ask why they're calling!" Jeff practically hissed, excited but trying to stay quiet.

" _Oh, a newbie, huh?_ " The caller sounded like she was just waiting for Lewis to mess up.

"Yes ma'am. This is Lewis Hamilton speaking, how may I assist you?"

" _I really need - wait, did you say you were Lewis Hamilton? THE Lewis Hamilton?_ "

"Oh great…" Lewis mumbled quietly. "Yes, that would be who you are speaking to, ma'am. The racer himself. Now, what was the purpose of your urgent call?"

The voice came back quietly. " _I can't believe Duchess didn't tell me Lewis was at C.H.R.O.M.E. now… Oh, that girl is gonna get it from me later…_ " Whoever this was, she must have been a real good friend of the Elantra, Lewis concluded. " _Ahem, sorry, um, yes, I need to be connected with Agent Duchess Rogers immediately, please._ " the voice came back professionally and louder.

"Agent Rogers has gone to visit a prison with a few others. I can't ensure you that you will get great reception out there, or that this call will be private, but I will connect you."

" _Thank you very much, Mr. Hamilton._ "

"No problem." Lewis looked to his screen and pulled up the mobile communicators, selecting the one that said 'Agent Rogers' and disconnecting from the caller. "Well, that was interesting."

"What was that about?" Jeff wondered, hoping it was something for the agents to do.

"I don't know, man… I hope it wasn't something bad. She sounded urgent, though." Lewis responded. "Maybe it's finally something for us to do."

"Maybe." Jeff repeated. He looked back to his best friend. "Who was it?"

Lewis hit the ground with a tire. "Augh! The one thing we're supposed to do when we get calls! I forgot to ask her name!" he groaned.

 **...**

Back at the prison, Holley, Mater, Lightning, and Duchess were fixing to leave.

"Alright, as long as you don't let anyone working for Mystery know that you're helping us out, then we'll continue helping you." Holley said as she put away her gun.

"It may be hard for you to find truth in my next words, but believe me, I'd never tell. They don't deserve to know they're being ratted out, and besides, if I did tell them, you spies would stop coming back and helping me escape. That would be a horrible shame on my part." Miles paused. "Not to mention that, even though it is mutual dislike between you four and I, I have to admit the company is a nice change from those perverts in there." Miles gestured in the direction of the prison room. "I bet it was uncomfortable for you two ladies."

"You have no idea…" Holley dreaded going back there.

"I was wanting to just slit their throats." Duchess growled, not wanting to go back either.

"Well, you all should be off, then. I hope all my knowledge helped in some way." Miles half-meant what he said. He wasn't against Mystery, but he wasn't for him, either.

"Goodbye, and when we come back, you better have more things to share." Lightning pointed to Miles with a tire. "If you know what'll do you good, you will tell us." Miles nodded. They all filed out, with Holley being the last. Right before she disappeared though, she had one more question.

"One last thing, Miles. Do you have any idea where Mystery will attack next?"

The green vehicle thought. "I actually do not. Mystery is a sly, invisible creature who will strike whenever, wherever he pleases. It may not be an attack, as sometimes he kidnaps vehicles to make them his slaves to do his dirty work. Don't be surprised when he attacks somewhere unexpected." Miles told Holley. The purple agent only nodded once.

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind." she said. Just then, Duchess came back in.

"I'm getting a call from someone!" she announced. "Hello? Baroness? Is that you? I haven't heard from you in forever!" The others were confused, as they couldn't hear who she was talking to.

" _Yes, yes, it's me. I tried calling C.H.R.O.M.E. and do you know who picked up?_ " the voice on the other end, Baroness, answered and asked.

"Who?"

" _Lewis Hamilton. The racer! Why didn't you tell me he was there last time you talked to me?_ "

"Too busy." Duchess was urgent to know what was wrong. "Baroness, what's wrong? Why are you calling an urgent call?"

" _Oh, right!_ " Baroness gathered her priorities. " _I wanted to tell you that Mystery guy is planning to pay a certain place a visit…_ "

"What? Where? You know where Mystery is going to attack next? Your computers are picking up the signals?"

" _Yes, and I know that you know this place…_ "

"I do? Where at?" Duchess was frantic by this point. The other four were studying the Elantra's face with alarm. Well, except Miles, who looked rather amused. Duchess's face fell and she looked very nervous. "Oh my Dodge…" she gasped as she hung up. "Guys, we have to go NOW."

"Is Mystery planning another attack? Where?" Holley asked in a panic.

Duchess nodded. "Carburetor County, Arizona."

Mater gasped. "That's where Radiator Springs is!" he exclaimed in a frenzy.

"Lizzie, Red, Mia, and Tia are the only ones there!" Lightning was frantic as well. "Come on, let's get outta here! We have a town to protect!"

Holley started after them as they rushed out the door, but Miles called to her one last time.

"Oh, Shiftwell?" he called. She turned around. "Don't be alarmed, remember?"

"How can I not be?!" She paused. "But wait, there are other towns in Carburetor County, too. What's the chance it'll be Radiator Springs?" Holley tried to stay optimistic, but knew she was wrong. She also wasn't surprised at Miles's response.

"What's the chance?" Miles almost laughed. "Oh, dear, what have I been saying? Don't be surprised."

"I'm just trying to not think about the unexpected. Radiator Springs? Why that town? It's so small and it was forgotten for so long. I hate to say it, but it's almost insignificant. What's the use of attacking it?"

Miles smirked, shaking his hood. "Always expect the unexpected. There might be a good reason to visit that particular town."

"Why?"

"Because it's Mystery. And you're about to know why."

* * *

 ** _And The End. Of this chapter hehehe._**

 ** _I remember what I said about not having too many OCs, but Baroness belongs to a very good friend of my cousin. I couldn't help but add her in, especially when I got a good idea for her :). My story is mainly with the canon characters anyway, so I'm not really concerned with the amount of OCs anymore._**

 ** _Well, I guess that's all I have to say for this chapter. As for the next one, um, I have been writing Cars oneshots because I made up my own OC, Tenite, and I get distracted writing them...so I may or may not be working on this story sometimes... I only have two completed and they're both fluffy and cute because Tenite is 3 years old in them both and...yeah. They're both AUs, and in the first one, Max is Tenite's adoptive father, and in the second one, Raoul is her actual father. The third one I'm making, (it's in the second AU) Miguel is babysitting her for Raoul, and Tenite is a little troublemaker for him hehehe XD. So yeah. Writing oneshots is quite distracting... I don't really plan on posting them on FFN since nobody knows who Tenite is or her backstory, but I may write a Cars fanfiction with her in it (as an adult or my age, and in her canon backstory. I have two AUs for her, as I mentioned above). Her actual backstory is kinda long, but I can tell you her father is Vani, my old minivan friend._**

 ** _And that's all I have for you guys. Next chapter is coming up...when I'm done with it ;)_**


	14. Thirteen

_**~browsing through Cars fanfiction~**_

 _ **A wild MIDNITE appeared!**_

 _ **The wild MIDNITE used NEW CHAPTER!**_

 _ **It was super effective! (Or maybe not, depending on how much you guys like it XD)**_

 ** _Yes, I am not dead, I am back with a fairly long addition to my story! :D I do apologize for the four-month-long delay, life gets busy and school doesn't let up... Also, if you don't know, I have DeviantArt now where I am doing Cars fanart and posting each chapter of TWTS with a drawing of a scene from each chapter I post! ;D So far, I only have the prologue (posted with the cover from this website) and chapter one (which has it's own picture;)), but I'll begin on chapter two's picture sometime I hope. I'm finding awesome people on DA so far, and if you'd like to check out my DeviantArt, go to my FFN bio and don't click the DA link, but copy-and-paste it into the address bar, remove the spaces and add the periods!_**

 ** _agent fruity pebble, I.M. Rally, lolbit, Kitty, Britishlover123, and Fabulous Cars Crazy Fudge (love the slight name change ;D), thank you all again so much for your reviews! ^^_**

 ** _AceAttorneyFantic, the four-month wait is over for now XD and Britishlover, have fun flipping that table again! XD_**

 ** _I kinda feel like this chapter is a little boring to me, but I don't know. Hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

 _ **Thirteen**_

The first rays of the morning light shone through the windows in beams of thick, fuzzy light. The beams slowly crawled their way across the old wooden floors until they reached the thin black tire of an old Model T. They crawled up her tire and reached her windshield eventually, warming up her black paint and prompting her to wake up. Lizzie fluttered open her eyes and stretched, yawning as she did so.

"What are we gonna do today, Stanley?" she asked to nothing but the air beside her. Rolling forward on her creaky axles, Lizzie started towards the door and onto her porch, watching the morning falling upon Radiator Springs. It sure was a beautiful sight, seeing the sun coming up and stretching its rays across the desert landscape like giant golden arms. Lizzie sighed dreamily. "There sure ain't nothing like watching a sunrise out here." She looked around, down the road, then squinted at the Courthouse. The sunlight had crawled up the brick already, making the building stand tall and proud at th e end of the road. A small stream of water sparkled by the statue of Stanley as he looked towards the horizon with his bronze gaze and goofy grin. For a second, Lizzie stared at it as best her grey eyes could see, just remembering the good old days until she saw the garage door open behind it.

Red emerged from the Courthouse slowly, glancing around at the quiet town. Of course, Radiator Springs was usually quiet, but this kind of quiet was different. The fire truck was used to having his friends in the town, all going about their daily routines, opening up shops, and waiting for customers. Without them, the Springs was just…lonely. Red did shed a few tears when almost everyone left, but then resorted to just feeling sad every once in a while. Since there was almost nobody to take a leisurely drive with, or to listen to as they talked, Red passed the time by doing what he does best. All the flowers stood tall and beautiful because of his gardening skill.

Red breathed out with a smile, pulling out of the Courthouse to see if his flowers needed watering. Letting the droplets fall, he did find some planters that were dry. _"Today is a nice day…"_ the shy fire truck thought to himself. _"Too bad there's really no one to take a drive with… Mia and Tia are too girly and gossipy for me, and Lizzie isn't always exactly "there"…"_ Speaking, or rather, _thinking_ of the Miata twins, Red could see them heading out of the Cozy Cone to the V8. He wondered how many customers they would have that day when he saw the light come on at the café. It took a while before anybody did arrive.

"Do you think anyone will be coming this way today?" Mia asked her sister after they got everything ready for customers.

"Probably. But I doubt there will be a lot." Tia answered honestly. "Ever since like, the whole town left, nobody wants to come here now."

"Maybe it was because Lightning McQueen was here, so that's why the town got so busy." Mia suggested. Tia just stared.

"He is the reason this almost-dead town got back on the map." she said like it was obvious, though it actually was. "Now that he and everybody else aren't here, there's nobody to help tend to travelers, so we might not get many of them."

"I hope they take care of this spy-thing faster." Mia groaned. "It's been almost four months! I really hope Sally isn't mad that I've accidentally messed up a few things at the Cone…"

"Well I really hope Flo isn't mad that we kinda ordered five-thousand cases of the wrong oil…" Tia gestured to the mountainous stack of oil cases behind the building under a tarp, serving as a looming reminder about a huge fail. Didn't make it any better that those cases were only outside because there were too many already in the building.

"Oh don't remind me…"

"Especially since there's a no return policy."

"I said _don't_ remind me."

Things hadn't been exactly easy for the two Miatas. A couple times, Mia had messed up reservations at both the Cone and Wheel Well by accident and was a little late with paperwork. Tia tried to help as best she could with that, but she was mostly trained for working at the café. That meant she was in charge of keeping the oil stocked - which she was fairly good at - except last time when more had to be ordered. Which of course, she had never done before. There's a first time for everything, and that couldn't be truer for the sisters. It took them forever just to find the order forms, then even longer to figure out how to use them. It wasn't until five-thousand cases of the wrong oil arrived without return, that it occurred to them they may have checked the wrong boxes on the paper.

As for Red and Lizzie, things remained unchanged as far as doing what they usually do. Sometimes, Lizzie would have moments of clarity and be of help to the Miatas, since almost every customer that came through went to the V8. She would get oil for orders or restock, whichever one needed assistance. Red, who never spoke, just watered plants and surprisingly wasn't very shy about spraying vehicles free of dust, dirt, and even once, cacti. Aside from that, he kept an eye out for fire hazards and also criminal activity since Sheriff wasn't there. With all the stores closed (except the café and Curios), there weren't many vehicles stopping by, so at least the crime rate went down. But nothing like that happened; the days had been going by pretty normally, and so far, today wasn't any different.

"Hey girls." Lizzie announced her presence as she rolled into the café.

"Hey Liz." Mia greeted absentmindedly.

"Hi." Tia raised a tire as she disappeared into the building.

"Nothin' new today, huh?"

"If there was something, we wouldn't be bored out of our minds doing the same stuff every day."

"I suppose not."

Tia came back out of the building with a small can of oil for the old Model-T. "Here's what you usually have, Lizzie. We're almost out of it, by the way." she said.

Lizzie's eyes drifted up to the rather embarrassing mountain behind the café. "Are you sure you're almost out? That's a fine mess of cases you youngins' got back there." she chuckled. Mia and Tia only looked at each other.

"So much for not being reminded." Tia snickered.

"Oh, shut up." Mia grumbled. "Lizzie, those are the wrong cases of oil…" she admitted.

"Wrong cases?" Lizzie started laughing. "Good luck fixing that problem!"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome… I think?" Lizzie paused. "Now uh, what were we talking about again?"

"Never mind."

All was quiet and peaceful once again in the fairly silent town as the four waited for visitors. For some time, it seemed like nothing would happen and no one decided to take a drive off the interstate. But eventually, they got some company.

"Looks like we have some guests finally." Tia announced. Sure enough, two shapes were coming towards Radiator Springs, one curvy and the other boxy. But it wasn't hard to tell who they were, especially since that unmistakable tail fin gave it away.

"Why, if it isn't Strip and Lynda Weathers!" Lizzie said happily when the two pulled into town. "Haven't seen you two in some time. How y'all been?"

"We've been doing very well. Retirement has been treating me excellently." Strip answered with his usual warm smile.

"So we decided to come out here for a visit, see Lightning and our other friends." Lynda took a glance around the town. "Seems empty here. Where is everyone?"

"Where is who?" Lizzie pondered.

"The other townsfolk."

"They're not here?" The black Ford looked around at the other shops. "Well, I'll be. They _aren't_ here. I wonder where they all went?"

Strip and Lynda couldn't help but chuckle at the old woman's senility, remembering that Lizzie is slightly crazy.

"Yes Lizzie, they're all gone." Mia pulled into view. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Weathers, it's good to see you again. What brings you two here today?"

"Well, we came to visit our friends, but a lot of 'em aren't here. Why is that?" Strip wondered.

"Um," Mia didn't know if she was allowed to tell anyone who didn't know. She and the other three in Radiator Springs knew exactly what was going on and where everyone was. (Though 'other three' and 'exactly' only accounted for when Lizzie could actually remember.) It was secret spy stuff with an agency in another country, and that alone sounded like sensitive information. Lizzie was so forgetful and Red never talked, but Mia and Tia were never told to not tell anyone about the whereabouts of the townsfolk, or what was possibly going on in the world. But, the Weathers could be trusted, right? "I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you…" Mia finally said after a pause.

"What? Why not? What's goin' on?" Strip became concerned.

"Are they in trouble?" Lynda worriedly asked, but hoped not. "Surely they didn't do anything bad to cause trouble."

"Oh, no no. Quite the opposite of that, Mrs. Weathers." Mia assured. "It's just, kinda sensitive information, I think."

"Sensitive info? My word, what could possibly be going on?"

"Wellllll…" Mia trailed off. "Tia?" she called.

"What?" The other Miata rolled out of the building. "Oh, hey Mr. and Mrs. Weathers!" They waved at her.

"Tia, did Duchess tell us to not say anything about where everyone is at? Because I don't remember her saying anything, but it sounds like sensitive information to me." Mia didn't know if it was a good idea to tell the Weathers, but she really wanted to.

Tia found herself in the same boat as her sister. "I don't remember her saying anything either, but I think it'll be okay if we tell our friends we've known for quite some time."

"That's what I was thinking." Mia turned her attention back to the Weathers. "Okay, we'll tell you, but you must promise not to tell anyone because we don't know if we're allowed to tell anyone, anyway."

"Okay…" Strip exchanged a glance with his wife. "I promise I won't say a word."

"And you have my word on that, too." Lynda nodded.

Mia gestured them closer and kept her voice low. "They're in London, England and they've become spies." The faces of the Superbird and the station wagon were a perfect mix of confused surprise.

"Do what, now?" Strip looked as if he didn't catch what Mia said.

"You heard correctly. Something is going on in the world, and nobody is sure of what it is just yet. Well, it's really just in one country right now, but it's gotten to be too much for just one spy organization to handle…" Mia drew out slowly and afraid she'd said too much. She hadn't since the Weathers knew what had happened at a certain event and about C.H.R.O.M.E. because Lightning and Mater told them all about it.

"Is this the same organization that Lightning's friend, Mater, got caught up in?" Lynda questioned, taking the Miata by surprise.

"Yes… And you know about it?"

"Only everything that happened during that World Grand Prix because of Lightnin'," Strip explained, looking very concerned. "so do tell us what's goin' on."

Mia told them everything she was told, from the two attacks to Finn snapping and leaving. Sally was the one who called every so often, giving the Miatas updates on everything and asking how things were, so that's how they knew everything. The two blue vehicles were in utmost shock upon hearing everything. And very worried.

"So what you're telling us is that there's some psycho out there doing really bad things, and a lot of our friends and other vehicles are becoming spies in London?" Lynda asked, bewildered.

"Basically, yes."

Lynda looked sideways at her husband. "Um, this sounds…very dangerous. Should we stay here, Strip?"

The Superbird didn't answer for a moment, thinking. It didn't seem impossible, as what happened during the WGP was real, but that still sounded crazy. These kind, calm Radiator Springs folks becoming _spies_ and having training to _kill_? Now _that_ seemed impossible! "Well, I would say maybe we should leave soon based on what's happenin'. But since our friends know the most about whatever is happenin', I think we should stay here. What do you think, dear?" Strip studied his wife's expression, which was a mix of worry and uncertainty.

"Staying here sounds pretty safe to me, but I'd still be very cautious." she responded.

"That's what I was thinking, too." Strip turned back to Mia. "Looks like we're stayin' with y'all."

"That's completely fine with us." Tia spoke up. "Y'all gonna stay down here, or up at the Wheel Well?"

"Probably the Well." Lynda answered. "A nice slow drive around up in Tailfin Pass sounds really nice right now."

"Y'know, that sounds good to me too." Strip agreed.

"Well, you two know how signing in works and where the keys are to the rooms." Mia said. "Pick any room you want, because you _know_ how overbooked we are." she joked.

"Oh yeah, this place is certainly _busy_." Strip chuckled, noting how empty the place was as he and his wife left for their drive.

Not long after Strip and Lynda decided to stay and keep the four company, a few vehicles started to spill off the interstate and into the little town in Carburetor County. Most were just passing through, though some stopped for oil or gas. A lot of them were disappointed to hear almost all the main stores were closed, but at least no one complained. They were glad that the V8 was open, at least, so it was no surprise that place was the most popular. Even when the Springs was next to empty, the café is always the busiest place.

"Oh, I'm always glad when another place here gets busy." Tia said out of boredom, gazing across the way at the Curios store.

"As long as it's not at the motels." Mia reminded Tia she helped with reservations at both places.

"Yeah." Tia absentmindedly added, watching the tail lights of a car and a minivan disappear into the Curios.

Well, it seemed like the café wasn't the busy place, for once.

Over in the crazy lady's store, the old woman was towards the back just dozing off. She had to blink a few times to register two shapes coming into her store. One was a large, round minivan, the other a white sedan. Another car came in just seconds after them, this one being a small yellow coupe.

"Welcome to Radiator Springs and my store, folks!" Lizzie called to them.

"Hello, hello." the coupe said in a friendly greeting. "Such a quiet, quaint little town, isn't it?"

"Oh yes, but travelers come from many different places all over the country to see it."

"I would ask why, but I think that billboard just outside of town explains it."

"I saw that too." the white sedan piped up. "Lightning McQueen really lives here?"

"Yes, he does." Lizzie began, turning towards the car. "Hot rod came tearing into town back in 2006, completely destroying our road and had the most smart-aleky mouth you'd ever hear. Complained about our town and called it 'Hillbilly Hell', he complained about fixing the road, and he said we were holding him hostage against his will. A week later and he was still here. Been with us ever since." she explained, beginning to have a couple minutes of pure clarity.

"Sometimes it just takes a place like this to turn someone for the better." The white car smiled, her dark brown eyes sparkling.

"Sometimes indeed." Lizzie squinted her eyes as if to see the sedan better. "My, you are a lovely car! What's your name, dear?"

"Pearle." was her answer. Pearle was a solid white 2007 Buick Lucerne, and she sounded slightly like she was from the country. Not a southern accent, but a gentle voice that was calm and country-ish. "I'm just out traveling with my husband," She took a moment to look around the store. "which I have no idea where he went."

"Isn't that always how husbands are? Disappearing when the wife goes shopping!" Lizzie declared, making Pearle laugh. She turned towards the minivan, who was on the other side of the store and looking at bumper stickers. "Like my collection? Bet we could find something that suits ya well!" Lizzie joked when she approached the van.

He chuckled softly. "Maybe." His voice was equally as soft as his laugh.

"How 'bout that one?" Lizzie suggested, pointing to a sticker that said 'Nice Butte' with a picture of Willy's Butte on it. The van laughed hard at it.

"Oh, dang if I came home with that, my daughter would refuse to be seen in public with me!" Now that he spoke a little louder, he revealed a slight Canadian accent.

"Heh, heh, would that be a bad thing?" Lizzie pondered.

"At first, yes. But now that I think of it, it would be a pain to drag little Miss Sassy Britches along with me if she pretends to not know me."

"As long as a parent does something to embarrass their kid, that kid won't ever want to be seen with them. Times haven't changed much at all." Lizzie chuckled. "What's your name, sir?" The minivan reversed and turned, revealing his face, which had a kind smile on it.

"Well, my friends call me by one name, so I'd like everyone I meet to call me this name too." he chuckled.

"And what does everyone call you?"

"Vani."

"That's an adorable nickname!"

"Vani Dodge is my name, and I'd say it kinda fits."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dodge." Lizzie nodded with a smile. She looked at Vani, taking in what he was. He was a steel blue pearlcoat 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport who was from Canada, based on his slight accent. His eyes were the most stunning bright violet Lizzie had ever seen. "My, my! I have never seen eye color like that before!"

Vani only smiled like he was embarrassed. "Yeah, a slightly feminine name and definitely girlish eye color can be a little awkward at times…"

"Naw, it's not that girly! There are lots of male vehicles with purple eyes out there! Why, there's this group of troublemakers that come speeding through town a lot, and one of them has purple eyes. DJ, I think is what they call him…" Lizzie looked at the floor with a puzzled expression, hoping she said the right name.

"I'll bet his eye color isn't as intense as mine, though." Vani said, defeated.

"Well, no, but don't be ashamed of yours. It's not bad at all Mr…" Lizzie smiled, then looked at Vani questioningly. "…uh, who were you again?"

Vani didn't question her. One look at Lizzie and he could tell she was a forgetful, old lady. "Just call me Vani, ma'am." he said with a nod.

"Right, Vani! That was it! Now, what were you looking for, again?"

"Oh, just checking out these bumper stickers."

"Is there any you'd like? How about this one?" Lizzie reached with her tire and slid a sticker out. It had no words on it and neither was it a long rectangle like almost all the others. Just a simple American flag. Vani looked at it, pleased.

"You know, that would be a nice sticker to have. I am originally from Canada, but I've been an American for years. I'll take it!"

"Alright, this way to the register." Lizzie led the minivan to the counter, where he bought the sticker.

"You know since you bought that, you should wear it." Pearle nudged Vani when he began turning to leave.

"I really got this as a souvenir, but eh, what the heck." Vani shrugged his tires and gave the sticker to his friend. "Put it in the bottom left corner of my back window." Pearle did just that.

"There. Looks good on you, ya Canadian." she snickered.

"Oh, hush." Vani waved her off. "I can't buy anything without some quip from you."

"Well, that's what happens when you've known me for a long time. Friends get to poke fun at each other." Pearle reminded as she headed for the exit. "I think I see Rustik across the street. C'mon and get your big blue butt out here."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Vani shook his hood. "Gosh, I wonder how Rustik can put up with her sometimes." he joked with a smile.

"I'm guessing that's her husband?" Lizzie guessed.

"Seeing as how they haven't gone crazy because of each other yet, yes, that's who she married." Vani confirmed. "Well, thank you for the sticker and have a good day, ma'am!" he bid as he headed for the door.

"And to you as well!" Lizzie went quiet as her senile mind got the best of her again. "Uh, whoever those two were…" The yellow coupe came up to the register with a few items.

"I'm ready to pay for these things." He put the items on the counter and Lizzie began checking the prices.

Back across the street, Mia and Tia were glad only three vehicles were there.

"So, what can I get you two?" Tia asked Vani and Pearle when they pulled into stalls.

"I'm good." Vani politely declined.

"I'm just low on gas. Think I can get a small can of oil with that too?" Pearle asked.

"Sure can!" Tia smiled. "Do you want your gas served in a canister to drink? You can use the pump if you don't want to drink it or are in a hurry. Or if you're just too low. Either way, it costs the same to fill up completely."

"Hmm, oh I guess I'll use the pump."

"Okay! Mia, help her with the pump while I go get the oil." Tia instructed.

Mia pulled up to the other side of Pearle's pump, waiting for the Buick to line up with the nozzle and open her gas cover. The Miata pressed the lever and the nozzle came down, counting dollars per gallon. "So, you folks just visiting or just passing through?" she wondered.

"Passing through."

"Ah, okay. Heading anywhere specific?"

"Heading to California, looking into a career for someone." Rustik spoke up.

"Oh, nice." Mia commented. "What part?"

"Emeryville. It's a career in animation."

"That sounds really awesome. Better than being a waitress in charge of too many things here!" Mia paused when the gas pump _dinged_ and the nozzle came up.

"Rustik, you have our money." Pearle announced, looking rather unamused.

"Oh, don't give me that look." Rustik rolled his eyes as he paid Mia what they owed. "It's not my fault wives sometimes can't be trusted with wallets, especially when we travel." he chuckled, getting the cut-eyed look from his wife.

"For your information, I don't like shopping all the time. I actually hate it!"

"Then explain our budget when we went to Hawaii back in '84."

"Oh shut up. That was different."

Mia laughed at the married couple and their little jabs at each other as she went to put the money inside the building. Tia came outside to see what they were going on about, and Lizzie followed the yellow car out of her store as he left. Vani only rolled his eyes and muttered something about 'no matter where I go with these vehicles, they have to be embarrassing…'. It wasn't long before Strip and Lynda came back from their relaxing drive around Carburetor County. A few more vehicles had come in since they were gone, and the trio of friends was still there, still talking with the Miatas.

"Oh, you two are back. How was your drive?" Tia asked cheerfully when the Weathers came back to the V8.

"Long, but relaxing." Strip answered, smiling at a minivan, a sedan, and a truck. He was certain they had no idea what was going on in the world, so he did his best to force a relaxed smile. "I've never seen y'all around here before. Just passin' through?"

"Yes, we are." the van answered with a smile and a nod. "Heading to Emeryville in California. Well, I am. These two I ran into while they were traveling, and we just decided to head to Cali together."

"But we've known each other for years." the truck, a 1997 Chevy Silverado, clarified.

"Traveling with friends is the best and safest way to travel." Lynda pointed out, almost stumbling over the word 'safest'.

"Very true. Very true indeed." the van nodded, eyeing the blue couple. "Hey wait a minute… Aren't you Strip Weathers? The King, as many called you?"

Strip was kind of surprised someone recognized him here when there was practically no one around in town. He nodded. "That would be me."

"Well, what do you know… Maybe it was a good idea to stop here, Rustik." the sedan turned towards the truck. "We got to meet a retired racing celebrity!"

"And how was I supposed to know that?"

"I don't know, but you didn't want to stop here at first."

"Well, I didn't know this place was actually better than it seems."

The Weathers found these two to be amusing and they were glad they weren't those fans, the ones that fall hood-over-axle for even remotely famous vehicles.

"Oh, would you two knock it off?" the van shot at them, boredly unamused. He turned to the retired racer and his wife. "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. The King. I'm Vani, and these two married squabblers are Rustik and Pearle." The Lucerne waved a tire.

"How do you do?" she greeted with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's okay, dear." Lynda waved her off, then leaned closer. "I understand married life." she whispered loudly, winking. Strip bumped his hip against hers, then looked at Rustik.

"I understand it too." Now it was Lynda's turn to bump back.

The trio stayed for a while, getting to know everyone better and holding light conversations with vehicles passing through and not staying for long. It was not a very excitable time and the day just seemed to drag on and on and on. Vani, Pearle, and Rustik did venture around town a little, finding their way up to Tailfin Pass and coming back down. Eventually, they had to leave as it got later in the day, and they bid farewell to the four townsfolk and the Weathers.

"Well, it sure was nice staying here with y'all." Pearle started their goodbyes. "Small town with a lot of heart. We should come back again sometime, Rustik."

"Yeah, we should." the Silverado nodded with a smile. "Sure is nice to come out here to see this beautiful landscape and breathe in that clean air." He took a large sniff, filling his air intake with fresh Arizona air. "Much better than that choking city air. Seriously, why couldn't she have chosen a career in a place out here, rather than in a city area?" Rustik looked to Vani. The minivan only shrugged his tires.

"Don't ask me. It's what she wants to do." he said. "It'll take a lot more than talking about air to convince my daughter to get an animation career elsewhere."

"Oh, I'm not gonna try anyway. Let kids achieve their dreams where they want." Rustik reversed and faced opposite the town. "I think we need to start heading out if we wanna get there."

"As much as I'd love to stay, it's too bad we can't." Pearle shook tires with everyone, as did Rustik. "It was lovely enjoying your company."

"Do come again soon!" Lizzie called after them as they began driving away.

"Have a safe trip!" Mia wished for them.

"And it was a pleasure to meet you three." Strip said with a wave and smile.

"Oh trust me, we'll be back sometime." Pearle looked back in her mirrors, smiling with her eyes and stopped when she noticed someone wasn't moving. "Vani? You coming?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." The steel blue van sounded rather distant, looking almost sad that he had to leave. "But we'll be back." he said with a sigh. Vani turned and said goodbye to the group at the V8, then joined his two friends ahead. "I really do like this place." he commented when they were out of earshot, sounding sad.

"Does it really make you that depressed that we have to leave?" Pearle wondered aloud. Vani looked at her, then back at the town.

"A little tiny bit. There's just something about this place really puts me at ease. It almost seems like nothing could go wrong here…" All three of them looked back in their mirrors in silent agreement how quaint and secluded the little town was. Then Vani straightened up and changed his tone. "Oh well, we'll come back anyway, so there's no need to act like we never will." he laughed at himself. "Come on, California gets closer the longer we drive towards it!"

Back in the town, there was still hardly anybody there. Just a few cars refilling at the café and that was it.

"Do you think anything else will happen today?" Tia asked Mia boredly not too long after the three left. Mia only gave her a look, but it was hard to tell what she was thinking.

"Are you kidding? Be glad we even _had_ the chance of some cars staying for a while." she exaggerated, turning dramatically to go back into the cafe building and cringing at the sight of all the wrongly ordered oil. "Ugh, what are we gonna do with all this?"

"We could at least try to give it away." Tia had an open can of it, reading the label. "Even if it's the completely wrong stuff," She took a small sip, then promptly spit it out. "and even if it tastes like garbage."

"Who even puts yeast in oil?" Mia made a gag face at her sister daring to taste it again.

"Germans."

"That's fermented."

"Still. Oktoberfest wouldn't be a thing if it wasn't for yeast in beer oil." Tia reminded.

"You've never been to that."

"Max has told us all about it."

"Still never been." Mia stopped. "Why are we even arguing about this?"

"I have no idea."

"Whatever. Tell me when new vehicles arrive, I'm going on break for the rest of the day." Mia disappeared into the building, having half a mind to pick up the phone and ask Sally about how things are going. _"But she told us not to call much…"_ Mia thought. She decided against testing how secure calls to C.H.R.O.M.E. were when dialed by a citizen telephone. Being bored with the small television set seemed like a safer option. Or was it?

It was Tia who saw the Gremlin and Pacer coming to Radiator Springs only an hour later.

 **...**

As quickly as they could, Holley, Duchess, Lightning, and Mater quickly made their way back to C.H.R.O.M.E.'s HQ, speeding the whole way. They mostly traveled on the back roads to avoid traffic and police, where they could speed as much as they wanted. At least, that's what the Tuners had told Lightning and Holley a while back. Turns out they were right, as what took them about three days to get to the prison only took them a day to get back. Aside from questioning why they didn't take the back routes in the first place, all four were very worried as they made their way back to the headquarters.

"I can't BELIEVE Radiator Springs is next on the list to get attacked! I mean, it's _Radiator Springs_ , for Chrysler's sake! A tiny, almost-forgotten-but-now-it's-not sleepy town! Why?" Duchess exclaimed.

"Aside from that fact that it's a perfect place to sneak up on, I really don't know." Lightning responded. "There's literally nothing there that's worth taking or anything! Mater, is there anything you can think of that could put the town at risk?"

Mater thought for a few moments, slowing down with the three as they made a sharp turn. "Uh, no, I can't think of anythin', either. Lizzie, Red, Mia, and Tia are the only residents there, but they don't know nothin' more than we do!" he concluded.

"Oh, well this is just great!" Duchess exaggerated sarcastically. "We're on our way to this place, not knowing why we need to protect it, other than it's home to a lot of our friends." She sped up with the others as they flew down a straight road. "I can't make sense of this."

"Hang on a second," Holley spoke up. "Duchess, who told you Radiator Springs was getting attacked next? Does anybody at C.H.R.O.M.E. know this vehicle?"

"I would assume not, considering she helps me out only and no other spy organizations." Duchess answered. "Nobody I know knows her, and I wouldn't expect anyone to because she lives with the royal family here in the UK."

"You know someone personally in the royal family?"

"Yes. Her name is Baroness and she was manufactured into the family, but her parents were both killed when she was I think, five? Maybe six or seven? I don't remember, but she came to the US as an exchange student, which is how we met. Her father was a baron and her mother was married into the family to him, and she was American. That's why Baroness came to the US for schooling to have both American and Britain education, that is, until her parents were killed. She went back, we kept contact and grew up, I taught her secret agent knowledge, together we built a secret tiny room somewhere in the palace that I can't say where, we filled it with equipment I stole from my previous organization, and Baroness keeps track of anything suspicious going on in the world from that tiny room. I like to steal equipment from villains before any authorities can confiscate it, so that's how we have such advanced technology that can track all over the world. That little room and my house in the States are _extremely_ crowded." Duchess explained who her best friend was.

"I don't think I've ever heard of anyone named 'Baroness' in the royal family before." Lightning said. "Then again, I don't live in Great Britain."

"I think I have a couple of times." Holley recalled the name. "I'm guessing she doesn't like to be as public as the others, huh?"

"Oh yeah. I know Baroness better than anyone else, and she knows me better than anyone in my family. She doesn't like a lot of attention, and after she started helping me track down wanted vehicles and alerting me of attacks like she did earlier, she really kept herself out of the public eye."

"Smart choice." Holley noted, keeping up her speed with the others. She was very tempted to use her jet wings and fly, but she didn't want to leave the three behind. "What is Baroness? Is she a British or American model?"

"American. Her father wasn't picky about which country model their child came from, so he let his wife choose. She chose American but let him pick what model. He loved his wife very much and wanted their son or daughter to be like their mother, so he went with a Jeep Liberty. 2012 model. Her mother was a 1970 Jeep Wagoneer."

"And her father?"

"1965 Jaguar XKE."

Holley paused for a moment before quietly asking, "So who killed them?" Duchess went silent as well.

"Nobody knows." she finally responded. "They disappeared one day, and never came back…alive."

"Oh…"

"Yeah. Okay, enough with depressing stuff. I think we might need to pull into a gas station soon." Duchess announced. "And I should probably notify C.H.R.O.M.E. about what Baroness told me."

"There's one 'bout five miles up ahead." Mater notified, checking his GPS gear. "And yeah, ya prolly should."

"There's a station up ahead? Perfect because I'm almost dry!" Lightning sped up, prompting the others to do the same. They were almost back to the HQ anyway.

 **...**

Royy was looking over documents and through agents' files when the small alarm on his computer monitor went off, telling him an urgent call had come through. He had it connected to his monitors as soon as the communications wing was repaired. When he checked it, it came up as 'UNKNOWN'.

"Who in the world is calling us?" Royy whispered to himself. Every call that comes into C.H.R.O.M.E. is immediately identified: number, caller, location, owner of the phone and all. All those fields said 'UNKNOWN', making the director a little nervous. Who could possibly have the technology to surpass C.H.R.O.M.E.'s? Royy had no idea, but the call didn't last long before the field said 'TRANSFERRED' and went blank again. The 1970 Rolls Royce sped out of that office and to the communications wing as fast as he could.

Jeff was still practically interrogating Lewis over the call when Royy zoomed in.

"Who got that call?" was the first thing he called out upon arrival. All eyes turned to him, but a pair of brown and another pair of grey were the only ones Royy noticed. The brown eyes looked rather nervous. "Was it you?"

"Um…" Lewis almost wanted to say no but didn't. "Yes, sir, I did." he answered as the director came up to him. "Was I not supposed to answer it?"

"No no, you did the right thing. It's just that I have the entire communications connected to my monitors in my office, and when that call came in, it was completely unknown. There was no name, no owner of the phone, no location, no anything. Our technology systems decode all that information, even if it's protected, so when our system can't decode it, that's a bit alarming." Royy explained.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Nothing came up down here, sir." Lewis gestured to all the screens in front of him. Royy scanned his eyes over them.

"It should have." he said. "Look at the call history." Lewis did just that, and the exact same thing that showed up on Royy's monitor appeared on the history. It all said 'UNKNOWN'. "Well, whoever they are, that vehicle doesn't have the tech to completely conceal themselves. There's proof they called."

"But who was it, is the thing." Jeff put in.

"Yes, exactly."

"I have no clue who it was, but it was a female and she said it was an urgent call." Lewis told Royy.

"That was all?"

"That and she also seemed to be a close friend to Duchess." Lewis paused in his talking. "I just remembered this is the hoodset she used a lot, so that's probably why I got the call." He recalled Duchess letting him use the hoodset she always used.

"Hmm, did Duchess ever mention any friends that could have access to spy technology? I'm sure she didn't." Royy assumed. Lewis looked at Jeff with a quizzing look.

"I…don't recall her ever mentioning any friends or family around us." he said, thinking.

"I don't either, so that would be a no, sir." Jeff shook his hood.

"Strange, but I'm sure she has family and friends and is keeping them secret. Being a solo spy isn't easy, and I'm certain Duchess is keeping quiet about allies for protection." Royy reminded of the difficulties of being an agent. "She let us background check her and everything, and she had proof of working for her old organization. Plus, we have kept an extremely close eye on her, and she's unknowingly passed all our tests of determining if a vehicle is a friend or foe. And on top of all that, she did save these headquarters from the first attack."

"So, should we be concerned about the call?" Jeff pondered.

"To be honest, I wouldn't imagine that call to be harmful, but we'll keep an eye out for anything." Royy nodded. "Besides, Duchess will be explaining that phone call when they get back."

The four were back the next day, or really, in the early morning. Security at the entrance took one look at their frantic faces and didn't even question them, just let them in. In the main building, the four weren't surprised to see just about everybody at the front, waiting. When Duchess had contacted C.H.R.O.M.E. about getting an urgent call and giving an estimate on when they'd be back, everyone must have found out. That would explain why they were all awake at this early time of about five in the morning.

"Looks like word got around about my call." Duchess pointed out, seeing all the solid white windshields of everyone's wide eyes through the windows.

"Good, they know what to expect and don't need explaining." Holley sighed of relief, speeding up and practically bursting through the doors. There was mumbling, then silence when they all came through the entrance. "Okay, I'm sure you all know what's going on: Duchess got a call from someone warning us about suspicious activity heading for Carburetor County, and it's legitimate."

"Who sent the call?" Lewis was the first to ask, of course.

"I'll let Duchess tell you that." Holley answered, silently wondering why both Lewis and Jeff groaned, sounding defeated. "So some of us need to go to Arizona, USA and try to beat or meet and stop this attack. But we have to hurry!"

"So who's all goin'?" Mater pulled forward. "Sheriff?"

The police cruiser had already pulled forward. "Oh yes, I'm going." he nodded. "Anyone else from the town going?"

"Ramone is definitely going." The said Impala raised up on his hydraulics. "There's gotta be more than us six going."

More vehicles volunteered to go, being Silver, Sarge, Luigi, Raoul, Nigel, and Todd (though Todd just wanted to go back to his family to protect them), so there was twelve total. There was no need to take everybody, and the ones who stayed behind did so to protect the HQ. The twelve that were going took two jets, Siddeley being one of them, and speedily flew as fast as they could to America. There was lots of talk about what to do when they got there, especially if they were there during the possible attack.

"But what if we get there, and our enemies are already there?" Silver quizzed Holley after talking about what to do if the Lemons hadn't arrived yet. They were in Siddeley, with Duchess, Lightning, Mater, and Raoul.

"That's what I'm thinking about, too." Holley responded. Just then, the communicator speaker came to life and Sarge's voice came through it.

"Is this thing working? It is? Oh, okay." There was a pause as he cleared his throat. "What is the plan of action, Holley? Specifically, if we get there and those villains are already there." Sarge asked louder and more professional-sounding.

Holley sighed. "Silver just asked that same question. I'm trying to decide. If they haven't arrived, we'll evacuate everyone and wait for Mystery and his clan. If it's too late…" she trailed off in a pause, hoping this wouldn't be true. "Then we survey the damage and decide the best plan of action."

"And if we're there while they are…?" Sheriff came over the intercom.

"Avoid their line of sight and you all have had training, so you know what to do, right?" There was a hushed silence for a moment or two before the voices came through again.

"Yeah, us four know what to do." Luigi assured.

"As long as we know who your mates are, we'll know who to shoot and who to spare." Nigel's voice came through. "But I'm sure Todd and I remember."

"Oh yeah, I remember." the Piston Cup racer said, then paused. "But what if there are regular citizens? How will we know who belongs to Mystery and who is harmless?"

"That's a good question, Todd, I haven't even thought about that…" Holley mentally punched herself, everything being too much of everything to think clearly. "I guess this is one of those times we'll know what to do when we get there."

"So we improvise a plan, without knowing what we are up against, _if_ we are up against anyzhing at all?" Raoul seemed a little doubtful. "Oh, fantastic… Zis is definitely going to work…"

"Hey, you never know what will happen. We all could react the right way and everything works out." Holley wondered if that would happen, though. Raoul eyed her, catching that too.

"Yeah, _if_ we all react zee right way. But zat is no guarantee." he reminded. "I know, actually, we all know what it is like to be in a life-or-death situation. And it is very hard to zhink about anyzhing."

"It is, but at least everyone is familiar with Radiator Springs and the surrounding area." Holley remained hopeful in the slightest. "Maybe except for Silver, but it's a very small town anyway."

"But what about the entirety of the place Radiator Springs is located? Is Carburetor County small, too?" Silver asked. Holley looked to Mater on that one.

"It ain't too big, but it ain't too small, either. It's bigger'en what most vehicles think." the tow truck answered. "But I reckon all this trouble will be in the town, so you won't have ta worry, Sil."

The Malibu looked a little relieved. "I hope that's where it'll be so we don't have to spread out all over the county."

"So then it's settled." Holley tapped her tire lightly. "If they aren't there, evacuate everyone and wait. If they have been there, survey everything and…take care of what needs attention." She couldn't bring herself to say 'look for survivors'. "But if they are there, do _not_ let… Siddeley are you hearing all this?"

"Loud and clear, Agent Shiftwell." the jet answered. The other jet could hear over his intercom, too.

"Okay, if they are there, _do not_ let them see us, we land outside where we won't be seen, and we sneak attack them. Got it?" the purple spy looked at each vehicle as she said everything, earning a nod from each as they understood what to do.

"We understand what to do over here." Ramone assured.

"Good, good. Now, all we do is wait until we get th-" Holley never got to finish her sentence and it was that moment that nobody was expecting, but everyone was dreading. There was an emergency call coming in to both jets, and Royy's voice came through calmly, yet there was an unmistakable worry in it.

"Agents, can you hear me?" he crackled through the speaker.

"Yes…" many unsure voices answered at once.

"A telephone from Radiator Springs is connected to our phones here at C.H.R.O.M.E. and we got a call moments ago from that line…"

"What was the message?" Lightning asked with a very sick feeling in his tank.

"It was only five words, but it was who called and even spoke is what's worrying us, especially the Radiator residents here…" Royy was excellent at keeping calm, but he learned how to also let fear into his voice for occasions like these. There was a sick feeling of worry that fell over the vehicles from the town.

"Oh no…" Mater uttered, knowing full-well who it was.

"I'm telling you agents this because _you need to hurry up and get there_ ," Royy's voice went urgently and dangerously low, bringing extreme severity to the situation. "because this is the call we received…" There was silence, sounds of button clicks and a shuffle, then the call became something sounding like a horror movie where the victim calls the police as there's chaos in the background. To Holley, it reminded her too much of when she and Finn witnessed live their agency headquarters getting attacked by Hell itself… The sounds of yelling… A few shots fired… A crash of metal… It became quieter, but there were still screams and tires squealing, the horrifying sound of the caller getting shot, then all went silent… And a scared, shaky voice on the verge of tears that goes unheard by all, whispered a desperate attempt for aid…

"H-help… Please…Guys… Come back…"

It was the voice of Red.

* * *

 _ **It wasn't all that interesting to me, but I hope at least some of you enjoyed it. I mean, RS getting attacked, we all saw that coming right? Yeah, we did XD**_

 _ **And yeah, I just had to add Vani into the story, even if it was just for a little while :3 Rustik and Pearle belonged to my grandparents (who have both passed), so I added them in as well :) And if anyone knows me, they'll know I put a little real-life reference in this chapter, they know who Vani's daughter is, and they'll see how those two things go together XD (Hint, the author's note at the bottom in the previous chapter reveals something ;))**_

 _ **And one last thing about DA: Real soon I'm going to post pictures of my real-life Cars OCs on my DA, so if you'd like to know what some of these guys look like in real-life, I'll try to have those pictures up by the end of this week ;) So check out my DA for a Cars landscape, Cars bird painting, TWTS pictures, concept designs for my carsona, and a bit more! :D And while you're at it, check out my friends' artwork on there as well! SHOUTOUT TO ALL YOU LOVELY PEOPLE! ^^**_

 _ **So I'm going to be fixing all these chapters, specifically all the words of 'said' into something more vivid and less boring XD Problem is, the 90 days were up for all my documents for this story, and FFN said 'goodbye' to them ;-; Of course, I can make new documents by downloading my own chapters and fixing it that way, but I have to upload them as new documents. I have no idea if FFN will notify you if I replace all these chapters with the updated (but hardly changed versions) because I'll replace them with new documents, not the same ones since those are gone. No idea if this site will notify about that, but if it does, it does and oh well XD**_

 _ **That's all for now, I don't know how long the next chapter will take but if it takes a while, I apologize in advance. Senior year, keeping my grades up, possibly getting a job soon, DeviantArt, life in general, and writing on my oneshots and TWTS all make me busy, but I somehow balance them out. I am still keeping my promise! I am still writing this story and I haven't given up! It may take a while to finish, but I will NOT give up on this. You all have my word, I promise :) I cannot tell the future, so I can't give an estimate on when the next chapter will, but just know it's on its way. Have an awesome day/night everyone!**_


	15. Fourteen

_**We're not going to talk about how long it's taken Midnite to upload again, k XD**_

 _ **Well dang, Happy New Year everybody! I can't believe it's already 2019; it certainly doesn't feel like it D: It's weird to think I finished this chapter at 2 in the morning last year, which was yesterday as of posting this XD**_

 _ **Anyway, I'm glad to be back posting a new chapter again! :D And I'm also happy to announce that I went through this whole story and somewhat revamped parts of it, added lots more detail to areas that were needing it, fixed translations (though I think one part I missed), and used better wording describing how characters speak! So now, The Way They Seem is exactly how I want it and a little better than before ^^ I didn't add any plot-changing details or do major changes, I just better described some parts and fixed what was needing it. However, I must say one sentence I added a single word to and changed the punctuation might have an impact on the whole story, now that I think of it... (The sentence is in chapter nine, in case anyone wants to try and guess what it is)**_

 _ **Before you start reading, I'll throw this out here in case anyone would like to know: The reason it's taken me until now to post is because last year was...I don't know. It was busy those last few months of school because I was in 12th grade and graduated, and everything was going well until July... Just as I lost Vani, I lost the next most special vehicle in my life, Tauren, or as his name was, Chev. (I changed it because 'Chev' was too expected to name a 'Chevrolet' Tahoe XD) He's not 'gone gone', just belongs to new owners now and when that happened, it tore me to pieces to the point I lost all motivation to write stories and do art. Yes, this was how much Tauren meant to me. On my DeviantArt I have a journal telling all about it, titled "I'm Back! Sad+Strange News and Exciting News" for those who want to know everything. (The strange news is very weird, and still to this day I can't believe it myself...) Anyway, the exciting news was that I went to Disney World and stayed in the Art of Animation Resort in the Cars Suite, which was the biggest fangasm I've ever had! XD So that's that and I'll stop rambling on about it XD**_

 _ **Response time:**_

 _ **Kitty, and here's another chapter ^^**_

 _ **Fudge, I've been wanting to tell you I haven't been having a lot of time to read fanfiction, but I will come back and read everything from you that I've missed! (Though I did finish your Cars 2 story and it was AWESOME) And as far as how everyone is in RS, it's rather quiet...**_

 _ **one speedy boi, You are right, police don't stand a chance against Mystery. Sarge could call the American military, but for now he hasn't, though it's definitely something he's been considering. And the shootout that happens in this chapter is a bit different, though.**_

 _ **Bitty, DON'T WORRY, I BRING YOU MOREEEEE!**_

 _ **Michigan, It's going to take a long time to finish this story XD But here's another update ^^**_

* * *

 _ **Fourteen**_

For a moment, nobody said anything. Nobody COULD say anything. The only thing that anyone could do in both jets was stare at each other, all oil run cold. Siddeley was just as stunned as the vehicles inside him, as was the other jet, but it only took him a second to gather his senses and use his afterburners. The other jet followed suit, all passengers inside both getting thrown back a little in their seats.

"What, on Earth…" Todd was the first to utter any words. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"

"No getting sick now, soldier." Sarge stamped his tire. "We have a town that was hit and hit hard."

"Y-yeah, exactly why I think I'm gonna be sick…"

In Siddeley, the same reaction and sick feeling ran through everyone there. Lightning and Mater could only just stare at each other, not even knowing how to feel. Being the only two in Sidd that called Radiator Springs their home made them feel the worst about it. Holley and Raoul were the next two to feel the most worried and dreaded, having spent enough time in the town to have some attachment to it. Silver and Duchess only kept quiet and hoped not for the worst to be expected. Nobody dare spoke in either jet for the longest time, Todd and Sarge being the only ones who did. Everyone was silent because what happened was exactly what they didn't want to happen: The enemy beat them there. The Radiator residents in the second jet shared the same faces of worry, as did Nigel and Todd, and it was Sarge out of them all who started talking again.

"Ahem, well, uh, I suppose we know what to do now." the Jeep quietly broke the silence after nobody spoke for what seemed like forever. The five looked at him with silent nods of agreement, then turned their seats forward for the rest of the flight. A few seconds later, the communicator above came on and Holley's soft voice spoke.

"When we get there, stay invisible and…look for survivors if necessary. Assess damages done, and we'll…decide what's best to do." Her voice was a little shaky, but nobody blamed the spy. Radiator Springs, a tiny little quaint town, attacked by Hell. It was all anybody could do to not worry about the old Model T, gentle-natured fire truck, and two little Miatas that could not defend against anyone. _Especially_ Mystery.

The rest of the way there, not much talk happened except for deciding where they land and where everybody would go to sneak in. Luckily, the jets were equipped with radar camouflaging capabilities, a technology that would mask their presence and hinder anyone's satellite from detecting them. That meant they could land in Carburetor County just outside of Radiator Springs, undetected at the Ornament Valley Airport. Unfortunately, the Springs was out in the open, completely exposed. That made it harder to sneak in like the secret agents they are. It didn't help when half of them were from the town and it was obvious, and four were well-known racers. At least the other three blended in fairly well. So, they all decided to just go in from all angles and close in on the town when they got close enough. It was also decided that everybody needed disguise paint jobs for future missions, since one little bump on a voice-activated sensor and it will malfunction, as proven by Mater at the Lemon meeting. But there was no time for paint jobs now. They were almost there, just having passed into America.

Not too long later, they flew into Arizona and over Carburetor County where they caught a tiny glimpse of the town. Ramone was the first to see it.

"There's the town!" the Impala gasped as soon as it came into view. "Sarge, tell Holley the town is in our sights now!" As Sarge went to hit the communicator button, the other four crowded to the windows to look at Radiator Springs. For the most part, it looked rather…untouched.

"It…actually does-a not look _that_ bad…" Luigi commented slowly, keeping his voice light as though merely talking would make the town fall.

"Surprisingly." Todd eyed a couple of buildings. "I mean, I wasn't expecting them to burn the place to the ground, but I expected something worse than this."

"Just be glad this is as bad as it is, son." Sheriff said, also eying buildings. Just in front of him, Sarge had hit the communicator button.

"Radiator Springs is in our sights." he informed. "It doesn't look as bad as we may have expected, though."

Lightning and Mater were the first to look out the windows.

"Dadgum! Thar it is!" Mater exclaimed, pointing. Lightning didn't say anything, instead just choosing to try and see anything amiss down there. Holley peered out a window and gazed at it.

"We see it too. And indeed, it doesn't look terrible…" she said. But what did Finn always used to tell her when he was training her? _Your teammates may stab you in the back, you might discover you were believing a lie your whole life when you hear the truth, but nothing will deceive you more than looks._ His words echoed in her mind, and Holley sighed. If it wasn't such an unfortunate happening to have Finn stab everyone he cared about in the back, that part might have been funny. But for the moment it was time to keep that quote in mind and brace for whatever was waiting for them below.

" _That's_ what we came shooting out of London for? That tiny little town?" Silver asked incredulously. "It's so insignificant."

"Hey." Raoul scolded, giving Silver a hard nudge for her tone. "I love zat place, as does everyone else. Clearly you have never been to Radiator Springs before." he commented.

"He's right. I used to be like Francesco, maybe even worse. Only took me a week spent there to straighten me out." Lightning added, giving the Malibu a sideways glance.

"Alright alright, I get it." Silver said in a small voice. "This place better be worth it for getting scolded by a French hatchback and a car who used to act worse than Francesco."

"Was zat supposed to be an insult?"

"And are you comparing me now to that Formula Racer?"

"You're just earning yourself a seat between those two on the way back." Duchess warned Silver, who moved her seat to the furthest window away from the two racers.

"Well, I don't think the town will be much ta look at now." Mater reminded as they began to near the airport. "But we'll see when we get thar." Silence ensued again as Siddeley and the other jet both turned sharply to head for the airport, obscuring the town behind clouds. Ornament Valley Airport came into view and they started their descent, both rather anxious about the outcome of the town. As normal as it looked, who knew what or _who_ was hiding down there.

Aside from some mild turbulence, they made a smooth landing without trouble. Since Siddeley had been there once before, the airplanes and employees were already familiar with him and respected the spy being there with the other jet. The twelve passengers they carried unloaded and tried to blend with traffic that was going towards the town. Problem with that was…

"OMG is that Lightning McQueen?!"

"Hey look! It's Todd 'The Shockster' Marcus!"

And then…

"Oh my Dodge, oh my _DODGE_ that's Sir Nigel Gearsley! What the heck?! _HE'S HERE_!?"

"And why is Raoul ÇaRoule here? Ah, who cares? THE CHAMPION OF FRANCE IS HERE TOO!"

They decided it _probably_ wasn't a good idea to go with traffic.

Using Sheriff to keep civilians away from them all, the other eleven retreated away, sneaking around the side of the airport. Luckily, the airport was a fairly small one so it was easy to quickly get away from the main exit and entrance. While they slipped away, Sheriff dealt with the curious small crowd, telling them the racers were here for a private visit with Lightning McQueen and couldn't stay long for any fans. Understanding but disappointed, the small group dispersed without lots of questions. The only thing asked was how long would the racers be there and what was the visit for, to which Sheriff said a day and it was nobody's business. He joined the other eleven when he was sure no one was going to follow.

"Don't be surprised if rumors start circulating that Nigel, Raoul, and Todd have shady business with Lightning." Sheriff announced when he found where the spies went.

"Huh?" Todd asked.

"Shady business?" Nigel repeated. "What did you tell them?"

"Nothing important. Now, we need to think of the best way to get to the town, sneaking in."

"But there's really no way to sneak in." Sarge brought up. "It's a tiny town that's completely exposed in the middle of the open Arizona desert. There's no way to be stealthy, unless we were all invisible."

"And I dun suppose those voice-activated doodads have the ability to make us disappear, do they Holley?" Mater asked.

Holley cast her eyes downwards and sighed. "Unfortunately, C.H.R.O.M.E.'s technology hasn't gotten that far yet, but they are working on something like it. But as for us getting there stealthily, well, it would help a lot if it were dark out." She looked up to the bright blue sky, hardly a cloud in sight. Why did the attack happen so that it would be daylight when they rushed to Carburetor County?

"Well we definitely aren't helping anything just standing around here. Can't we just go there with our weapons out and prepared for something to attack?" Ramone suggested. "We're kinda wasting time, amiga, and by the sound of that call we don't have time to waste."

As much as she didn't want to rush out there and get them all possibly killed, Holley had to agree with the Impala. "You're right, we don't have time to waste." As she said it, her gun clicked out of her rim. "Time to go. Everybody, kick it to highest gear and let's go. Stay close until the town is in our sights. Weapons out and come on!" Her voice came out sounding confident and like that of a leader, for a second reminding her of Finn. Holley didn't even feel half the amount of readiness her voice carried, but decided to get used to it. Her partner wasn't here anymore to guide her through the leadership role, so it was time to do this on her own the best she knew how.

The group of twelve sped off far away from route 66, carefully going across the off-road bumpy desert. Duchess and Silver were far ahead of everyone else, wearing tires meant for every terrain plus having hardcore training for high-speed, bad road situations. Raoul was behind them and ahead of the others, the rally car only being used to off-road racing, not hardcore training like the Elantra and Malibu. (Plus he wasn't wearing the same tires as them.) Closer and closer they got in record time, even getting jostled and slowed down trying to carefully maintain top speeds. From behind, the brake lights of Duchess and Silver came on. Once the others caught up, they were much closer to the town than they wanted to be.

"Why did you two stop at Willy's Butte? Isn't this a little close?" Luigi questioned.

"A little, but unless you wanna take a slow, leisurely drive in there, this is where we stop." Silver stated firmly. "We don't know what's waiting for us in that town, if there's anything there at all. Being a spy means you gotta know when to take chances, and when you do, be on _highest_ alert." Her violet eyes were no longer that of a silly, quirky Malibu. Instead they showed a hard, authoritative young spy with lots of experience despite her age. For a moment, Holley felt Silver should be the one leading instead. Luigi said nothing, instead just giving a nod of trust in Silver's words.

"Don't forget I've been here before." Duchess added. "I know the ends and outs here as well."

"I thought you only came once?" Lightning reminded.

"Once is enough for any field agent. You learn very quickly how to retain tremendous amounts of information that civilians normally wouldn't be able to remember. Y'all will soon exercise your memories enough to have this ability too." This got everyone's attention and all eyes turned to Holley.

"Being a spy surely is becoming worth it now." Sheriff remarked. "Now how do you suppose the best way we get over there, Shiftwell?"

For a moment, Holley wanted to ask Silver and Duchess the same question, as they've had more field experience than she had. "I suggest we fan out and come in at all angles. Check the town for anything and anyone. Then once it's clear, we go up and check the Wheel Well. Alright, move out." she instructed. Half of them went on the side of the town they were already on and spread out on there, while the other half crossed the road and went to the other side. Slowly, they made their way in, keeping an eye on all the places someone could be waiting with a sniper. Luckily there were no surprises like that. But they were surprised by the lack of destruction in Radiator Springs, though.

"In a situation like this I would ask what happened here, but I think it makes more sense to ask what _didn't_ happen here." Sarge was the first to say something.

"They didn't do a whole lot of damage, and I wonder why." Holley was looking down at a perfectly intact can of some brand of oil. The buildings were all still standing, and aside from broken windows and bullet holes sprayed all over the area, nothing was extremely out of place. "If anything, it appears as though they came here just to ransack it a bit and chase everyone away."

"Yeah…" Sarge turned around and glanced towards Tailfin Pass. "Shiftwell, I am going up to Tailfin Pass to check it out. Six can stay down here, and five can come up with me."

"I will send five to go with you." Holley nodded Sarge to go along, to which he did. The ones that went with the Jeep were Raoul, Lightning, Duchess, Ramone, and Todd. Holley stayed with Silver, Nigel, Luigi, Sheriff, and Mater in the town. Both parties went to work nosing around to find civilians or Lemons, dead or alive.

All the stores in the town were empty of life and ransacked, though nothing was completely destroyed. Bullet casings littered the ground and there were burns here and there, along with a few tiny dying fires weakly licking at the space around them. Skid marks were all over the place, some revealing those Lemons (and non-Lemons) enjoyed doing doughnuts apparently. A few of the signs that marked the shops were knocked down, such as Wimpy's Wipers and the curb feeler sign. The sign for Mrs. Muffler appeared to have been used as target practice, like someone got bored and wanted to see how many shots it took to take down the sign. Another decided to try writing something vulgar with bullets on the muffler store, as the brick now had a very lovely 'F YOU' attempted in it. That message didn't seem too far off, as to those who lived there the whole town looked like one big…well, _that_ message.

After going through the Courthouse and all the stores on that end, it was time to move to the other end. Luigi immediately drove to the Casa Della, feeling like he wanted to die at the sight of his beautiful tires and the whitewalls - oh the _whitewalls_! It was almost too much for the Fiat to see his tires all thrown about inside and some outside, oh the disrespect! Unfortunately, the windows were all broken, creating a game of broken glass roulette in front of the store. The light concrete made many of the shards hard to see, making it impossible for someone to drive across without puncturing a tire.

Across from him, Sheriff was peering into Ramone's House of Body Art, which was now just a House of Art with the paint mess inside. Nobody was hiding in there and Sheriff was glad he could see the entirety without going inside. Getting rainbows on his wheels was a look he could have invented, but all the reasons not to outweighed the ones saying 'do it'.

Next to Sheriff, Silver was inspecting the V8. Flo's café was a mess of oil and gas puddles everywhere. The inside looked just as bad, with all the specialty oil dispensers broken, gone, or damaged and a mess of the flavored oils swamping the floor. No sign of anyone in there. Silver turned around and saw Lizzie's Curios Shop, the place looking the most untouched compared to the others. Though that may have been because it was already a bit of a mess to begin with, or at least that's what Silver had been told. She wasted no time going inside and inspecting it. A crazy old lady Ford ran the place, and with all the curiosities inside, the Malibu could tell. As interesting as the place was, there was no time for browsing. Some things of little importance, such as bumper stickers, might have been stolen, but other than that, nothing looked particularly messed with. Silver hoped that if those Lemons came in and got Lizzie, they took her without struggle and only carnapped her.

Beside the Curios, Mater was poking around the Cozy Cone, careful to avoid the glass from the broken lobby windows. He found all the garage doors of the Cones unlocked, but nobody inside any of them. The plants and decor in front of each Cone were either missing completely or destroyed, and many - if not all - the Cones had burn marks on them. As soon as it was clear, the tow truck immediately went to his Salvage Yard. Mater found it a mess, but it's always been a mess. It looked the same, save for his shed which had collapsed from whatever happened here. The rest of the buildings were no different, being just as out of order as the others. Once the town was declared clear, the six went checking the area around it.

The other six had a much quicker job of scouting out the area of Tailfin Pass. They were very quick at getting up there, and going through the woods didn't take long at all. The Wheel Well wasn't even touched, much to their surprise, but that didn't mean the Lemons didn't go up there and do something. Searching the woods and finding nothing and no one, some of the group came back down, while the others stayed just in case.

Eventually, it became a back-and-forth deal where some would go up to Tailfin while others stayed down low, and then some would stay up there while others would go back down. This happened all day, thoroughly checking that side of Carburetor County pretty much down to the tiniest pebble. At one point, everyone but four went back up to Tailfin one last time before they left. Luigi and Sheriff were going through the Courthouse, making sure they didn't miss anything, while Nigel and Silver were going around the backside of buildings.

Silver was in the area behind Luigi's Casa Della Tires inspecting bullets and a small blood splatter. It wasn't a big splat, so that gave a bit of hope that maybe the victim survived. Or maybe got away, at least, judging by the small trail of red oil leading away from the splat. The Malibu was following the drops with her eyes until a racing green Aston Martin silently rolled into view until his brakes squealed.

"You may wanna get those checked, "sneaky" spy." Silver chuckled.

"As if you don't have the occasional brake squeal, poppet." Nigel joked back. "All that training wore out my brakes faster than I race. Had to get them replaced when we were recovering from the attack."

"Sounds like you rely too much on your brakes when you're training or out on the field." Silver noted. "As a secret agent, you can't do that."

"I know, I know. But you can put that blame on me being a racer. I uh, tend to be a little fast." admitted Nigel.

"Haha, is that right?" Silver nosed around some crates and boxes, trying to detect for any bombs or explosives. So far, there were none, as there had been none all day. "Eventually, you'll learn not to overuse your brakes so much. Lots of new agents have that problem."

"Why, of course. This certainly isn't an everyday kind of activity that everyone does."

"And obviously not what you do, seeing as how you were the only one who got your brakes replaced."

Nigel snorted a little. "My career has been anything but an _uphill_ challenge, if one could place the blame on that for my tendency to exert more power."

Silver just laughed softly. "Oh really? Well just remember one thing, Agent Gearsley…" She pulled up to Nigel and tapped her front right fender to his right one. "This isn't an uphill race; it's spy missions you're dealing with now."

"Oh, I know." Nigel felt his hood heat up a little at Silver's touch. He hoped his green paint was dark enough not to show hints of red. "I can keep, ahem, keep my speed…in…check…" Suddenly, the DBR9 was lost in violet.

Likewise, the Malibu was suddenly drowning in rich brown. "Uh, wow. Now that I'm this close, your eyes are very, shiny. A-and…in a masculine way, um, pretty…"

Nigel's (manly) pretty eyes sparkled. "Oh my, why, thank you. And might I say you h-have very, very, lovely eyes…"

For a moment, the two said nothing, just admiring each other much closer than they've ever been before. Silver's eyes ran along Nigel's side, following his rather _voluptuous_ body to his spoiler. He was certainly curvier than her, but that was absolutely nothing to complain about. Nigel was eyeing Silver up and down, taking in her sleek silvery paint and overall build. She was the prettiest sedan he'd ever seen. Neither one knew it, but they'd both had eyes for each other since they met. One could say, it was now very evident. They were only like that for a few moments before something started banging around inside the Casa Della.

"What was that?" Nigel snapped to attention, whipping his front to the back of the building.

"It came from in there." Silver pointed to Luigi's, standing tall and ready for whatever could be hiding in there. Or _who_ ever. "Come on." She swiped Nigel's right tire to urge him along. Both spies cocked their guns in their rims and snuck towards the front of the tire store, keeping beside it. The Leaning Tower of Tires was still standing, though the strands of lights attached to it were swaying lazily in the slight breeze. Glass from the broken windows was still scattered about in front, as nobody had tried clearing it away yet. It was also the reason no one had gone into the Casa Della, as popping a tire now would be very inconvenient. "Go find a broom, quickly!" Silver hastily ordered in a whisper.

Nigel nodded and reversed, scanning the area behind the buildings, finding nothing. Turning towards the Curios shop, he spotted the handle of a broom sticking up over the wooden fence. Problem was, it was behind the fence and the only way to the tiny enclosed area was through the Curios. If it didn't put him in front of the Casa Della, Nigel would have zipped around to the front and gotten it. Instead, he tried not to be noisy as he pried a crooked board off. He ended up ramming into the fence twice to get it open enough, and grabbed the broom with his teeth. It was the kind really meant for forklifts to use, most likely used by Guido, but it did have the end attachment for a tire to hold it. Nigel pulled up to Silver and dropped the broom, snapping it to his tire.

Silver wasn't sure what exactly the Brit was doing behind her, but as soon as he started making noise, the crashing sound happened again. The Malibu caught sight of some movement in the dark tire store, however there wasn't enough light to see what it was. A quick glance in her mirror and Silver saw Nigel with a broom in his mouth. Two seconds later and he was dropping it next to her, fitting it to his tire. "I saw movement in there, so there's definitely someone inside." Silver whispered.

"I would not doubt that." Nigel began to sweep away glass, and as soon as the remnants of the windows started clinking against the concrete, there was a shuffling sound in the store. "Perhaps they think we can't hear them every time we make noise…" suggested Nigel, as every single time they made noise, whoever was inside did as well.

"Maybe. But keep sweeping anyway." Silver was anxious to know who was in there, not knowing if it would be better to find an enemy or an ally. An enemy could be tortured for valuable information, while someone on their side could tell them what happened here and help.

As soon as all the glass was swept aside to make a trail, Nigel began having trouble getting the broom off. "Oh, bloody-! Rrrgh, get this off me." He thrust his tire at Silver, who pushed against the head of the broom. For a horrifying moment, Nigel thought the broom was forever clamped to his tire. But finally it popped off with a fairly soundless _dink_ noise, until it went sailing into the Casa Della and made a slightly bigger _dink_ noise. And by 'slightly', it flew into a shelf display of tires and knocked them down. Nigel glared at Silver.

"How was I supposed to know it was gonna do that?!" she spat in a whisper.

"Could have held onto it better, "sneaky" spy." he growled a little, albeit neither were truly cross with each other. Just annoyed at how loud that was, and that it _had_ to happen. "But never mind that," Nigel clicked on his headlights. "who is in there?" The darkness became bathed in a bright, slightly yellowish light, but there was no sign of anyone.

"They've gone quiet." Silver pulled her front into the store, her headlights coming on as well. "They're not over here." she said, talking about the area where vehicles get new tires put on.

"They must be on the other side of this wall." Nigel didn't bother keeping his voice a whisper; whoever was here already knew of their presence. And they were barely a few yards away.

"Be careful…" Silver said in a barely audible whisper, to which Nigel nodded that he would. She kept watch all around them as the DBR9 ever so slowly pulled towards the corner of the display, to where the mirrors were.

All three of them were broken, and that was the first thing Nigel saw. The second thing he noticed was a small car with their front end stuck in a box. A large tire was shoved around the opening of the box that contained the front half of the car, presumably to keep it on. Another large tire was wedged tightly against the back end of the car and around their tires, to keep them from moving. This car was definitely no bad-guy Lemon, or a lemon in general, that Nigel could tell just by looking. Though he couldn't tell the gender because of how covered they were by the tires and box. But still, who was it? The spy motioned Silver to stay where she was, and at the same time the captive car began struggling again, making quite a racket.

"Alright, who are you?" Nigel questioned. "And stop struggling, too."

Everything went silent. "…N-Nigel…Gears-sley…?" It was the tiniest voice full of fear that eventually broke the silence.

Said racer dropped himself closer to the ground out of shock. "Mia?! Is that you?!" Quick as a flash, Nigel put away his weapon and grabbed the tire around the Miata's back end.

"Yes! It's me! Oh, help me _please_!" the petrified red car begged tearfully from inside the box. Mia had been crying before, but now her tears were that of absolute joy.

"Don't worry, Mia, you're safe now." Nigel assured. "Silver, grab the box and try to pull it off."

"Who else is here?" Mia's voice asked from the box, though she was grateful Nigel wasn't alone.

"About ten others. There are twelve of us total." Silver answered, knowing the question was meant to learn her identity. Formalities can wait, as all spies are taught. She grabbed the box with her tires and pulled hard, Nigel pulling Mia in the opposite direction. It didn't take a lot of pulling for Mia to be popped free of the box, and when she was free she sucked in a huge breath.

"It was getting hard to breathe in there, I was worried my air intake was going to forever be stuffy!" was the first thing she exclaimed. Mia was slightly giddy with excitement from being freed; she didn't know what else to say.

"And now to get those two tires off of you." Silver looked at them with a discouraging glance, not sure how to get the one that was touching the box off the Miata. "But how?"

"Well, let's start with the back one, it's easier." Nigel was glad Mia was so much smaller than him, as it was easier to grip the tire with both of his own. "Silver, hold Mia in place and I'll reverse back to pull the tire off."

"Are you pulling because you have a more powerful engine than mine?" Silver asked with a smirk.

"Oh, just an excuse to exert more power than usual." Nigel snickered and gave a wink, then began pulling slightly to let Silver know to hang on. It took more effort as expected, but the tire did come off.

"Oh, ow, oh, that hurts…" Mia groaned as her cramped rear axle was suddenly free and mobile. In the haste of the tire getting forced around her, her back right tire was punctured to make it easier getting it on. Not so much for taking it off, though.

"This one could probably be cut off." noted Silver, pushing at the tire around Mia's cab. "Unfortunately, I don't have a big enough knife for that."

"And I don't either." Nigel sighed. "Looks like you'll have to deal with this tire until we get back to C.H.R.O.M.E."

"I think I can…" Mia rolled forward a bit, testing her new "accessory" and flat tire, amid aching axles. Luckily enough, it wasn't impossible to do since the tire didn't touch the ground. "At least I can drive still." She looked at the two spies and all her adrenaline excitement drained instantly as she remembered everything. "Where is everybody else?! Did you find the others?! Oh no… My sister! Did they get my sister?!" Mia suddenly became frantic once again, but the agents understood why.

"Hush, and try to keep yourself together, Mia." Nigel tried his best to calm the scared car, gently placing his tire on her left fender.

"I will, once you find Tia and the others!" she sobbed, leaning into his touch.

"Well, maybe you can help us with that." Silver suggested, tapping Mia's tire. "You might not know why those Lemons came here, but maybe if you tell us what you saw, we can have a guess and know where to find them next."

"I'm almost certain you won't find Mystery…" Mia breathed, trying to stop her tears. "And I don't know if what I have to say can be of any help…"

"It may help some." Nigel turned to lead them all out. "We must tell the others we found Mia, they would be glad to hear that."

"But they won't be glad to know Tia, Lizzie, and Red aren't here…" Mia had stopped her tears, but was now very shaky. "But I'm sure you guys can find them, right?"

"We don't know for sure, but it's okay to be hopeful." Silver glanced down as she followed Mia and Nigel out. "Though it's never good to be too hopeful. The letdown can make you…want to die…" Her voice had dropped and was extremely shaky, though Nigel and Mia heard it.

"What do you mean?" Mia asked, a bit worried at the agent's sudden change of demeanor.

"Silver?" Now Nigel was concerned too.

The Malibu brushed them off. "Nothing." She blinked hard, a glint of something shiny siding down her left fender. "Just…nothing." Silver opened her eyes and instantly her authoritative demeanor came back. "I'm Agent Blaze. Silver Blaze from America, though for the while I'm with C.H.R.O.M.E. for this crazy mess." she introduced herself.

Mia smiled a little. "It's the best thing in the world to meet you, thank you so much for saving me, Silver, and thank you too, Nigel." Both spies smiled at her.

"Just doing our job." Nigel said.

Just then, a red racecar came driving up to them.

"Hey, you two found Mia!" Lightning exclaimed, very happy to see at least one resident. "Still no sign of the others?"

"Not at all." Silver's voice had a worried edge to it. "Y'all couldn't find them either?"

"No, there was nobody up at the Wheel Well and all these stores are abandoned." Lightning reported. Far behind him where the Courthouse was, a caravan of vehicles were coming down the road and making their way to the four.

"Well, at least we know _one_ is safe." Sheriff said when he saw Mia. "What's with the tire?"

"The Lemons put it on me and it needs to be cut off." Mia looked at everyone who was there. "Is now a good time to tell about what happened?"

"Now would be an excellent time to learn." Holley pulled forward, all ears, as did the other ten.

And so they learned. Apparently, it had been a very slow day yesterday in Radiator Springs. There were a few customers who popped in, but overall it was a very, very boring day. According to what she's heard from the townsfolk, Mia said the town was almost as dead as it was before Lightning came, which everyone found odd. Why would a world-dominating bad guy want to attack a tiny, seemingly worthless town in the middle of almost nowhere? The answer must have been buried deep since even by the end of the explanation, it still didn't make sense. Mia went on to tell them that the Weathers had arrived for an extended visit, as they rented a room in the Wheel Well. The whereabouts of Strip and Lynda were not known, but more than likely they were safe somewhere since they left the town before the attack. Possibly went for another leisurely drive, but Mia wasn't sure. When the Lemons first arrived, Tia had been the first to see them. It was a Gremlin and a Pacer, Grem and Acer as she's heard of them once before. Tia was a little scared to see them because she remembered hearing all about the Allinol scam, and she didn't fancy serving them oil. However, oil to be consumed was not the oil Grem and Acer were looking for. When Tia alerted Mia of the two Lemons, it was too late. They were already at the café entrance, guns drawn and threatening looks adorned. Neither of them shot the sisters, and they both even said they wouldn't, but that didn't stop a whole fleet of Lemons coming in and going wild. Lizzie's store was targeted and Mia was absolutely fearful for the old Model T. Though the only time she remembered seeing her was when Lizzie was being escorted out with a group of Gremlins. As dead as the town had been, there were still a few customers just loitering about and Mia remembered seeing them all terrified for their lives as gunshots rang out everywhere and vehicles were carnapped. Chaos was nothing but a blur as so much unfolded so incredibly fast, that Mia was afraid her memory was making up things or forgetting. At one point, she remembered seeing Red barreling into the café and picking up the phone, but there was no way to know who he was calling. But she did see him get shot, and that angered Mia so much to see somebody do that to someone like Red, that she lost all sense in getting away, just to find whoever shot him. In her angry search, she ended up getting hit by a large SUV who, to her shock, was part of the Lemons. Being a small Miata, Mia was easily overtaken and beat, forced to watch the Lemons and their non-lemon friends ruin the peaceful little town. As far as she was concerned, nobody was killed, but vehicles could have been carnapped. After the torment of being forced to watch her friends, her sister, and the customers get hurt, Mia was finally thrown into a box where a large tire was forced over her to keep it on. A second large tire was forced on her back end, where she felt her right tire pop and both tires pushed up into their wheel wells. Mia was then shoved around before being shoved into a dark corner, where she couldn't move because her front tires were trapped in the box and her rear ones were bound. After many fruitless attempts to be free, Mia finally gave up and just listened to the rest of the chaos, wondering how long it would last. It wasn't too much longer before all the enemies left and silence blanketed the area in an eerie calm. A few more tries at freedom and finally Mia cried herself to sleep, which is why she didn't hear the twelve spies arrive in the town.

"And that is what happened here?" Ramone asked, shocked out of his mind. Mia only nodded.

"Please tell me you guys are leaving soon, because I don't want to be here right now…" she said barely above a whisper. Her eyes glanced over to the V8, where the first thing she noticed was the embarrassing mountain was missing. "At least they took that away." Mia uttered with a tired, half-attempted pained smile.

"Took what away?" Raoul wondered.

"Don't. Ask."

"Rien ne sera demandé."

Curiosity was now sparked about the seemingly comical thing Mia didn't want to explain, but as Raoul said, nothing was asked. "Well, ever'thing up in Tailfin Pass is still clear an' mostly untouched." Mater announced, glancing around the town a little. "Was down here still all clear?"

"For the most part, yes." answered Luigi. He had been checking out the Courthouse with Sheriff and found it clear by the time the others were arriving back to the town from Tailfin. "All the buildings down here still had-a nothing to hide, except my store." he added, gesturing to Mia.

"Aside from the obvious mess and slight destruction, they didn't seem to take anything, either." Todd observed, then corrected himself. "I-I mean that as in, they didn't take any objects. But they might have carnapped whoever was still here."

Mia made a small 'ha' noise. "Well actually, I can tell you they stole about five-thousand things - _which_ shall not be discussed." she was quick to add the last part. "And they…probably did carnap everybody." The Miata went quiet as she said it.

"Well, if that's what happened, there's not much we can do right now." Ramone turned around and shined his headlights through a broken window into his House of Body Art. Inside was a disaster, and it pained the Impala to see all his cans of stylish paint giving the floor and walls a new look. But what pained him even more was three of his friends were missing, along with innocent vehicles as well. "Are we, uh, done here?" Ramone asked quietly. The thought of leaving was the last thing he and the other townsfolk wanted to do. Not only was Radiator Springs their home, but leaving made them feel like they would miss something, specifically the small gleam of hope their friends would pop up unharmed.

"I'm sure that might be the only thing we can do now." Holley affirmed their leaving. "We've got one survivor, injured but alive, and the rest hopefully carnapped." It felt odd to wish someone to be stolen, but in comparison, a carnapping was certainly better than believing the victims dead.

"We've searched this place about three times now, both the town and all throughout this side of Carburetor County. Nothing and not another soul to be found." said Duchess.

"Alright," sighed Holley. "let's go." The group of twelve turned to go, but something was wrong… _Wait, twelve?_

"Hang on a minute, didn't we arrive and there were twelve of us?" Nigel pointed out, alarmed. All eyes widened and looked at each other, realizing there stood only twelve vehicles. That number would have been okay, except they had just gained another so their group should have gotten one car bigger.

"Dodge Almighty, where is Sarge?!" Lightning exclaimed, throwing everyone into a hyper-concerned worry.

"I thought he went up with you all to scout out Tailfin one last time?" Sheriff kept his voice down, but the edge of worry in it was adamant about being heard.

"He did! I was with him the whole time, but we wandered off into the woods deeper than anyone else, and I lost sight of him." Lightning paused to breathe, and the others looked like they were going to start yelling at him. " _But_ I came back out into a clearing and he pulled out on the other side!" the racer quickly finished before getting anyone's wrath. Everyone looked confused.

"So where is he, then? Didn't you come back down with Sarge after you both came into the clearing?" Silver asked, feeling like she knew what happened to the Jeep.

"I was going to, but he told me to go back down ahead." Lightning paused to remember. "Sarge said he was going to do a last quick scan of the area we were at, and said it was alright for me to head on down and join you guys. And that's the last I saw him."

"Does that mean he's still up there?" Luigi asked to no one in particular, looking to where everyone else's gaze was going: Tailfin Pass.

"He might be." Raoul pulled forward as if he wanted to trail up there and see. The others did as well, all but one.

"I wouldn't bank on it." Holley's voice stopped them.

"Why not?" asked Todd, surprised Holley didn't want to search.

"I think I may know. Lightning, what did Sarge look like when he told you to go back down?" The question seemed out of nowhere at first.

"Uh, like he always does?"

"I think I know what happened to him too." Silver put in, Holley nodding. "Light, specifically what did Sarge's eyes look like?"

Lightning looked up to the sky, which was still bright but now beginning to turn orange as the sun started its descent. "Well, he looked at me like he always does, not stern or mad or happy, just neutral. His facial expression wasn't any different. But his eyes?" He wasn't very close to Sarge, but he could still see the veteran's eyes clearly at the distance they were. While Sarge's face held no expression different from any that he's ever done, there _was_ something off about his eyes, and only now Lightning was realizing it. Those brown eyes of his…they almost looked _red_ , or at least had red in them. "You know what? I thought it might have been the shadows from the trees, but Sarge's eyes looked kinda…red." Lightning finally said. "I will say it uh, reminded me of Finn's eyes after he, left us."

The speculations of Holley and Silver were true. Now everyone was more afraid now than when they had arrived.

"Okay, let's get out of here. Now!" Holley urged everyone to get moving, in which they did. "We CANNOT lose anyone else to him!"

Taking no time, the group found a small trailer in which they put Mia on, fastening her to it. There was no way she could keep up with the others on her own, and the trailer was attached to Lightning as he could pull it the fastest. Nobody bothered to be sneaky and stay out of sight; they all barreled down Route 66 and did not stop until they reached the airport. Neither Siddeley or the other jet bothered asking when the slightly frenzied, definitely worried spies came zooming up with a Miata on a trailer. Yet when they noticed Sarge was missing, their silent questions were answered. They wasted no time loading up and taking off, remembering to drop Todd Marcus off at his home. He promised to remember his training and everything, keeping in touch in case he was needed again. Everyone wished him luck in protecting his family and keeping his secret safe from them, and the jets were off again. While the others talked and chatted up a storm about what just happened and what might happen next, only one remained quiet. Even though this was only one spy they lost and it was still early in the mission, Holley couldn't shake a very persistent sinking feeling…

Sarge now belonged to Mystery. And he certainly would not be the last.

 **...**

They watched the group zoom out of town from far above, way out of sight.

"Look at them run just because I took another one of theirs. Just as the like ends of magnets, they are repelled." Mystery scoffed. " _Pathétique_."

"I don't think I could agree more, sir." the Willy's Jeep next to him nodded. Mystery chuckled darkly, glancing at the book _Control_.

"Indeed, though they certainly will be in my way. Too bad for them, I'll need more.~" he taunted, looking back at the runaway spies. The unseen vehicle's voice was incredibly smooth, a weapon by itself it certainly was. He turned and looked at his new addition. "Tell me, Sarge. Who shall be next? You obviously know them better than I."

Sarge looked at Mystery, his now red and brown eyes gleaming with new a sinister life. "Oh, it doesn't matter to me who is next. After training, they became worthy secret agents. Heh, we all did actually, and I was very impressed by their progress. They are all perfect for taking." he assured.

"Really? Well, this will be even more fun than I thought!" Mystery laughed with a dark glee. "But now, we must go. Come, Sarge. I must be getting back to my followers before Finn kills them all. I left him in charge and he's a very dangerous vehicle now, one that is easily pissed off. Tyler Gremlin can tell you all about that." he laughed. "Though I'm certain Finn won't harm you. He will treat you with respect, since I know you two knew each other before this."

"Good." Sarge's voice suddenly sounded _much_ more sinister than it had moments ago, and he wasn't even trying. "I only take respect, and…my voice…what happened to it?"

"That tends to happen when you become one of us. Your voice can gain a dark undertone that still sounds like you, but more…minacious." Mystery explained, grinning. "Do you like it?"

Sarge returned the grin. "I'm eager to see what else will change about me."

"That's what I want to hear." Mystery led Sarge into his small private jet. Everybody else was ordered to leave after unleashing havoc and carnapping civilians, leaving only those two behind. Just before they boarded, Mystery still had one more question he was curious to know. "Now before we take off, how do you feel about your new purpose? Being one of us now, I mean."

It didn't take more than a second for Sarge to answer. "Something I haven't felt in a long time, Mystery."

"And what is that?"

Sarge turned his body towards the setting sun, closed his eyes, and breathed out a single word.

" _Free_."

* * *

 _ **I'm going to be honest when I say the ending of this chapter bothers me a little, just because Sarge is a WW2 veteran and he gave himself up to the enemy and now he feels free, but this is a dark story and that part had to happen. Oh well, it's just a fanfiction XD**_

 _ **Looks like Sarge won't be contacting any military anytime soon...**_

 _ **And where to go with this next I have no idea. But I am having ideas XD**_

 _ **And yes I ship Nigel and Silver. fite me.**_

 _ **And once again, this story has come to a halt until next time. *in Francesco's voice* Goodbyyyyyye!**_


End file.
